Jason Kidd hated avoidable mistake in Luka Doncic trade that Mavericks botched

The Dallas Mavericks trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers on February 1 was the most shocking trade in NBA history, and everything that came along with it was extremely frustrating for Mavericks fans. While Dallas basketball has a new sense of life thanks to the Mavs winning the draft lottery and the right to draft Cooper Flagg later this month, it wasn't always sunshine and rainbows for the organization over the last few months.

Mavericks fans were disgusted that Nico Harrison decided to trade Doncic to the Lakers out of nowhere, and the same could be said about certain figures within the organization. Jason Kidd was reportedly not happy about Harrison's decision to trade Doncic, as much more pressure was forced upon his shoulders after this move. Harrison did not come to Kidd about this move and worked in silence, and the on-court results following this trade were not as great as Harrison expected (even though the team dealt with countless injuries).

Kidd was forced to work with an entirely new team after having Doncic be the squad's epicenter ever since Kidd joined the Mavs in 2021, and he was not a fan of one strategy that Harrison and Dallas utilized within their walls after the trade.

Kidd resented being the Mavs' 'spokesperson' after the Doncic trade

According to The Athletic's James L. Edwards III, Kidd "didn’t always enjoy being Dallas’ spokesperson in the aftermath of the franchise trading Luka Dončić, per league sources."

Kidd was forced to take tough questions in almost every single media availability that he fielded after the trade, and this is largely due to Harrison not speaking to the media right after the trade (except one time after the trade in Cleveland the morning after it happened).

While Harrison had a media availability with local media right after the season ended (and a separate closed-door media roundtable less than a week before), this was far too late. And Harrison and the organization's decision to not make him available to the media earlier put Kidd in an uncomfortable situation.

If Harrison had just owned the trade and spoken to the local media in a press conference in the days following the trade, this would have saved Kidd some breath and not forced him to be the punching bag. Kidd wasn't the one who traded Doncic to the Lakers for Davis, Max Christie, and one first-round pick, but he had to answer questions like he did.

Now, with Edwards III's report, it's clear that Kidd was not a fan of this.

The frustration around the trade even led Kidd to skip media availability after their loss to the Sacramento Kings (the same game that Daniel Gafford went down and sprained his MCL, and they lost). This was the first time that Kidd had ever skipped an interview after a game, and he cited the reason for missing this press conference as needing "a minute to regroup."

Being able to coach Flagg this next season should make things easier on Kidd, as he got to add the best possible player they could have this summer to his roster, and this revitalized group should help Kidd avoid the flak and tough questions that were forced upon him after the Doncic trade.