Strange reason Mavs traded Luka Doncic points to 1 person, and it's not Nico Harrison

As time goes on, more and more reasons continue to get reported as to why the Dallas Mavericks decided to make the most shocking move in NBA history.

On the evening of February 1 just before midnight, the Mavericks traded Luka Doncic, Markieff Morris, and Maxi Kleber to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a first-round pick. Fans have been in shock for weeks, as this move happened less than eight months after Doncic led Dallas to their first NBA Finals appearance since 2011, and the stack of reasons that continue to get revealed don't make sense.

While it was immediately clear that Dallas' concerns about Doncic's conditioning were serious, and were a major part of this decision, other reasons continue to flow in as well. Reasons that Nico Harrison traded Doncic include concerns about his leadership, work ethic, complaining to referees, and injuries, but a new person has entered the conversation about why Dallas traded Doncic, and his name isn't Nico Harrison.

Brown's Finals performance made Mavericks question Doncic

According to NBA insider Marc Spears, Boston Celtics superstar Jaylen Brown played a true role in the Mavericks punting on Doncic at just 25 years old. Brown spent significant time defending Doncic in the 2024 NBA Finals, and the way he guarded Doncic got the Mavericks' gears spinning about his future in Dallas.

"What he did to Luka in the Finals, shutting him down, guarding him full court, making it unbearable offensively, led Dallas to start questioning Luka as the leader of this team, and questioning whether he was in shape or not," Spears said in an appearance on the "Cedric Maxwell Podcast."

While Brown did have a spectacular series and went on to win Finals MVP, Doncic clearly had the best series of any Maverick in the Finals regardless of how well Brown defended him. He averaged 29.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 2.6 steals per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the field. Doncic struggled from downtown and the free throw line, as he shot 24.4 percent and 58.6 percent from those areas respectively, but he was not the reason that Dallas lost that series.

Kyrie Irving was admittedly rattled in that series, and Dallas' role players almost completely disappeared. No one outside of Doncic and Irving other than P.J. Washington averaged double-digit points per game, and role players couldn't knock down open shots. Doncic was nowhere close to the reason that the Mavericks lost in five games to the Celtics, but it seems like the organization felt differently.

Superstars are always going to get more blame than anyone else when things go haywire, but Doncic getting the blame for this series and Brown's defense being a key reason that he got moved is mind boggling. Harrison was set on trading Doncic this season, and all of this negatavity that continues to leak out of Dallas is only going to fire him up.

Doncic reportedly trained hard in the weight room and on an outdoor court during the All-Star break when he took a trip to Mexico, and the leaks about his conditioning and weight reportedly motivated him and "a beast was awakened inside him." Mavericks fans are going to have the chance to watch an angry Doncic play this evening, which they have done many times before, but this will be the first time that he is playing against Dallas rather than for them.