Nico Harrison's Luka Doncic fumble looks even worse after Jimmy Butler trade

With just one hour left before the trade deadline officially is over, teams are scrambling to make last-second roster changes and one team has clearly won that battle over the last week. The Los Angeles Lakers not only fleeced the Dallas Mavericks for a top-three NBA player in Luka Doncic but also acquired the center of their future in Mark Williams.

To make matters worse for Dallas, Doncic could be making his return to the hardwood on Saturday as the Lakers take on the Indiana Pacers in what has become the league's most anticipated game of the season.

While Dallas became one of the biggest losers of the deadline season after the Doncic trade, they made another questionable trade on Tuesday afternoon as they traded Quentin Grimes and a highly coveted second-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Caleb Martin who hasn't played a game since early January due to injury.

With other teams making trades and revealing just how valuable the trade market is, the Mavericks are left scratching their heads after a blockbuster deal on Wednesday night that featured five teams and superstar Jimmy Butler being sent to the Golden State Warriors to team up with Steph Curry.

Butler deal reveals Mavericks' mismanagement of Doncic situation

After initial attempts went sour due to contract talks going nowhere, the Warriors shocked the NBA world when they traded for Butler and then signed him to a lucrative two-year, $121 million contract extension. This trade and contract extension was seemingly a slap in the face to the Mavericks after Harrison alluded to his doubts about Doncic signing a five-year extension in Dallas that would have left him the richest player in league history.

To make matters worse, Doncic revealed in his Lakers press conference that he and his team around him gave the Mavericks zero hints at potentially not re-signing in Dallas which has left fans scratching their head even harder as to why Harrison made that trade in the first place.

Not only did Doncic miss out on $117 million had he not been traded, but Harrison's reason for making the trade makes even less sense after the Butler trade and eventually contract extension. In addition, Butler is ten years older than Doncic, which has only added fuel to the fire for Dallas fans.

Harrison listed a number of reasons including defense and not wanting to deal with contract talks over the summer, but after Butler's deal in Golden State, Harrison is once again left looking like the villain in Dallas. It doesn't seem like he wanted to give Doncic the supermax extension, and after seeing Butler's deal, it makes even less sense that Harrison had a fear of signing Doncic to that extension.

The best players in the league get big contracts, and Doncic has continuously shown that he is worth that supermax deal.

It's unclear if the Mavericks will make any more trades with just hours remaining before the trade deadline window closes, but the Mavericks must make a move to acquire another ball handler if they are serious about winning.

There are multiple names that fans have thrown out there but the guard market seems to be few and rare. Harrison will have to work some magic to win Mavs fans back and it could start with a trade for another shot creator.