Nico Harrison's brutal excuse for Doncic trade will destroy Mavericks for years

When Dallas Mavericks fans woke up on Tuesday morning, the last thing they expected was for GM Nico Harrison and CEO Rick Welts to hold a non-recorded media session with selected members of the Dallas media only. The Smoking Cuban was not invited to this arrangement, though the quotes coming out from this media availability are already triggering Mavericks fans, and rightfully so.

First of all, Dallas is on the eve of their play-in matchup with the Sacramento Kings, yet the organization decided that today would be the best day to let Harrison double down on the Luka Doncic trade after not talking to the media whatsoever since February 2 in Cleveland. Dallas' season is projected to wrap up here in a few weeks at the absolute latest, granted they somehow win two consecutive play-in games and make the first round of the playoffs versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, though there's an equally strong chance Dallas' season ends tomorrow night with a loss versus the Kings.

Needless to say, this was an extremely ill-timed decision by Dallas' brass with exit interviews seemingly coming right around the corner, but it wasn't the short notice, timing, or lack of fan appreciation that was even the worst part about this presser. Though context is hard to surmise without any media from the presser, DLLS Mavs reporter Tim Cato took to the DLLS Mavs Podcast earlier today to address Harrison's comments this morning.

Defense won't save the Mavs, and Nico Harrison keeps doubling down

The most common theme from Harrison's availability per Cato: "Defense wins championships". Cato said Harrison said this phrase a plethora of times when asked about the motive and reasoning for making the Doncic trade, and this is exactly what Harrison said in Cleveland a couple of months ago as well.

Can defense win championships?

Without question, defense is a significant factor toward winning a championship in the NBA, but Harrison's answer here seems like a simple cop out for something he can't justify. Dallas had a top-10 defense last season, which was a large reason they made it to the NBA Finals, but Harrison is essentially saying that having a single non-defensive-oriented player like Doncic in the starting lineup would've continually stunted the Mavericks' ability to compete for titles year after year.

Doncic has had a fair share of off-nights defensively through his career, and Boston Celtics superstar Jaylen Brown made him a turnstile throughout points in the NBA Finals last season, but Doncic was hobbled from multiple injuries and was still competing as hard as he could defensively at the highest stage in the Finals.

It's been well documented that Doncic's defensive woes mainly stem from effort during the regular season, but these concerns weren't the main reason Dallas lost the Finals, and Doncic has always given better effort on that end during the playoffs. The Celtics are one of the most dynamic teams on both sides of the ball in league history, and their array of versatility offensively across their entire rotation as well as their ability to play multiple types of gaudy defensive lineups is what caught up with the Mavs the most in that series, as Dallas simply needed a more talented roster to overcome the 2024 Celtics.

It practically seems like Harrison turned on a YouTube compilation of Brown cooking Doncic in isolation situations during the Finals and then decided the best course of action would be to trade a 25-year-old superstar without evaluating all other variables at play. Harrison's inability to elaborate further upon the basketball reasons for the Doncic trade besides "defense wins championships" is a huge slap in the face to Mavericks fans, as Dallas probably could've built a defensive oriented team to win the Finals over the next handful of seasons while still keeping Doncic as the centerpiece of the organization.

Getting a more defensively oriented superstar in Anthony Davis is clearly what Harrison coveted, though we all know how badly things have gone for the Mavericks since the trade. Barring a two-and-a-half-quarter stretch where Davis and Kyrie Irving helped pioneer a huge lead over the Houston Rockets, fans have no clue what the actual potential of Dallas' roster is due to all the injuries since Harrison made this trade.

Meanwhile, Doncic was moving as well as ever in his 45-point torching of the Mavericks last week, with Harrison standing in the tunnel of the American Airlines Center onlooking Doncic's return with the Los Angeles Lakers. Doncic obviously could've improved his defense, and his conditioning issues can definitely be tied into that, but Dallas clearly isn't better now or anytime soon after trading him. Unless the small bit of hope Harrison is holding onto in regard to Dallas' defensive performance versus the Rockets game in early February tends to be a more common theme for the Mavericks once they are fully healthy sometime next season, Harrison's comments about defense today were a disaster and terribly timed.