Nico Harrison’s explanation for trading Luka Doncic is truly preposterous

Late in the evening on Saturday night, shockwaves were sent across the sports world, as the Dallas Mavericks pulled off one of the most unprecedented trades in NBA history by trading 25-year-old Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in a three-team deal while Doncic is in the middle of his prime.

The Mavericks netted a return of Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick, which is obviously a hefty return package, but not for a player of Doncic's caliber. The Utah Jazz also took back Jalen Hood-Schifino's contract and a 2025 second-round pick from both the Mavericks and the Lakers to help advance this deal from a financial standpoint while also getting some sweeteners in return.

This deal materialized completely in the shadows from all the reporting that has been done on this trade thus far, and no general NBA fans or Mavericks fans ever expected this would even be a possibility given Doncic's track record up to this point in his career. Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison has shown that he's not scared to shake things up at the trade deadline in all four seasons that he's been in Dallas, but this trade was another level of risk that even the smartest of basketball minds are struggling to make sense of.

Doncic didn't request to be traded at all and most Mavericks media believed he was on the precipice of receiving a five-year $345 million extension that would keep him in Dallas through this entire decade, but Harrison and company are betting that Doncic simply won't be conditioned or healthy enough throughout the course of his career to ever lead a team to a championship.

Harrison's explanation was a slap in the face to Mavs fans

In perhaps the most unimportant game of their regular season, Dallas got blown out by the Cleveland Cavaliers by a score of 144-101 on Sunday afternoon, as Dallas had an extremely depleted roster as a result of the Doncic trade and some minor injuries across their roster. While the game felt like a fever dream, there were some substantial comments made by Harrison in Dallas' pregame presser, as Harrison addressed the media for the first time publicly following the Doncic-Davis swap.

Harrison had a variety of subtle infuriating comments that seemed like they came too soon given how attached Dallas' fanbase has become to Doncic over his past seven seasons in Dallas. While he gave Doncic his flowers a little and accredited him for his time in Dallas, his tone was definitely more emblematic of the general manager who walked into Doncic already on his roster compared to Donnie Nelson who pioneered drafting Doncic back in 2018.

The most preposterous comment Harrison made on the day had to do with an ill-timed joke he made after being asked by reporters about Anthony Davis' new fit in Dallas.

"He fits right along with our timeframe to win now and win in the future," Harrison said. "The future to me is three to four years from now. The future 10 years from now, I don't know. They’ll probably bury me and [Kidd] by then. Or we’ll bury ourselves."

This comment from Harrison showed a lack of sensitivity toward the situation, as Harrison basically publicly stated that he doesn't think his job security will warrant him being the general manager of the Mavericks beyond the next few seasons, and it's very selfish of him to push all of Dallas' chips in just for a chance at this new scenario working out.

Let's be clear, Davis is a multiple-time All-Defensive team player who is a walking 25 points and 12 rebounds a night, and Christie is a 21-year-old lengthy point-of-attack defender who is shooting nearly 40 percent from 3-point range on the season. The Mavericks also have a first-round pick at their disposal if they want to make another trade, so there are obviously positive components of this trade and it's possible to see Harrison's vision of a gaudy defensive frontcourt with defense and shooting around Kyrie Irving.

However, Harrison gave up too quickly on Doncic unless he is somehow able to prove otherwise over the next handful of seasons, and his statement against Doncic's inability to add to Dallas' culture highlights just how rough he felt about Doncic's fit in Dallas for the future.

"Listen, one thing about me, I'm not going to talk bad about any players," Harrison said. "I mean, that's not going to do us or me any good. I just say there's levels to it. There's people that fit the culture and there's people that come in and add to the culture. And those are two distinct things. And I believe the people that [are] coming in are adding to the culture."