Nico Harrison's Luka Doncic bet just cashed — and the Mavericks are sore losers

When Nico Harrison traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers on February 1, it was a bet against Doncic and the rest of the time remaining in his career, as Harrison had gotten to a point of no return when it came to Doncic's eating and off-court habits. Harrison envisioned Doncic never being able to get in as good of shape as he was during his rookie or sophomore seasons, as he thought the environment Doncic had in Dallas was too comfortable a situation, and Doncic would occasionally play at a heavier playing weight than needed for the entirety of his career.

However much Doncic has struggled to return to the same playing shape that fans saw from him during the 2020 NBA bubble, betting that he wouldn't get into elite shape during any of the remaining offseasons in his career was an insane bet by Harrison, and Doncic is proving that bet to be completely wrong like nearly all fans and analysts thought he would after the trade, as he's in arguably the best shape of his life while training in Europe right now.

In a recent piece by Men's Health, they did a full deep dive into how Doncic has been getting into elite shape this summer while back home, as his personal team of trainers and nutritionists have been working in lockstep with him since the Lakers were bounced by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs.

Luka Doncic has transformed his body — and he's out for revenge

It's without a doubt that Harrison galvanized a burning fire within Doncic for him to prove Harrison and the rest of the world wrong, and now Doncic could be one of, if not the best player in the league again after getting into elite shape this offseason. Mavericks fans have long micro-analyzed training pictures of Doncic when he was on the team, always judging if he had gotten a little skinnier or bigger, but this physical change Doncic has undergone this offseason has been very noticeable at first glance, as he has visible muscles showing and overall lessened his body fat percentage substantially.

The piece dives deep into Doncic's training regimen this offseason, but it should be noted he has taken weightlifting very seriously as well this summer, as by no means should fans expect a slimmer Doncic to not be able to work in the post or hold his own defensively against bigger players. If Doncic is around is ideal playing weight of 225-230 pounds (it looks like he is), the league and the Mavericks should be as scared as they ever have, as Doncic was dominating at that weight during his first two seasons in the league, and he's gotten far more skilled now after having to add more to his bag to compensate for his lack of athleticism over the past few seasons.

This undoubtedly could be the most complete Doncic on both ends of the floor that fans have ever seen, as he'll be 26 years old ahead of the start of next season and motivated as ever to make a laughingstock of Harrison.

Trading Doncic was already a risky proposition considering Harrison didn't extract as much value out of the deal as he probably could have, and now Doncic is in complete revenge mode and the best shape of his career in a Lakers uniform during the middle of his prime, so needless to say Harrison and the Mavericks are sweating bullets right now.