6 days Ago
The Dallas Mavericks shocked the NBA world when they traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. The move drew a lot of criticism and questions from fans. It’s not every day a team trades its superstar less than a year after an NBA Finals appearance.
General manager Nico Harrison has faced a lot of backlash. There have been loud “Fire Nico” chants and fans with signs that read the same. But if Harrison was given the opportunity to go back, he wouldn’t change what he did.
“There’s no regrets on the trade,” Harrison told a select group of Dallas-based media, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon . “Part of my job is to do the best thing for the Mavericks, not only today, but also in the future, and some of the decisions I’m going to make are going to be unpopular. That’s my job, and I have to stand by it.
” Harrison, who also made trades that drew the ire of the Mavericks fanbase, noted that sometimes it takes time for fans to come around, adding Dallas acquiring Kyrie Irving was graded poorly at first. But trading Doncic , the person the Mavericks could build around, the player who could be a franchise cornerstone for Dallas, blindsided nearly everyone — including ESPN’s Shams Charania who broke the news. Both the Lakers and the Mavericks clinched playoff berths, with the latter in the play-in tournament.
Whether Dallas makes it to a second straight NBA Finals remains unknown, but Harrison believes trading Doncic won’t hider its ability to do so. “But our philosophy, like I said, going forward is defense wins championships and we’re built on defense,” he said . “And this trade cements us for that.
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