Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison claims he still doesn’t regret trading Luka Doncic. But in a meeting with select members of the media Tuesday, Harrison made a ridiculous claim about Doncic’s future contract.
During his media session, Harrison repeatedly defended his decision to trade Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for center Anthony Davis, young wing Max Christie and a first-round pick in 2029. However, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon pushed back on some of his assertions — namely that Doncic wasn’t going to sign a supermax extension that he would have become eligible for this summer.
MacMahon asked why Harrison didn’t try to get more in return for Doncic, or trade him after he signed his supermax deal. Harrison replied that there was “no guarantee” Doncic would sign the deal, despite Doncic publicly saying he would and crying on the bench during his emotional return to Dallas last week.
It feels as if Harrison and the Mavericks front office have chosen to repeatedly insist “defense wins championships” to justify the trade, rather than admit that they, and the team’s new ownership, weren’t willing to give Doncic that $345M extension. Perhaps it’s easier to insist that the trade was based on sound basketball reasons, even after the Mavericks imploded at the end of the season.
Based on Harrison’s public comments, the Mavericks don’t mind if people think they’re inept. As long as people don’t think they’re cheap.
