The more we find out about the night of the trade, the worse it gets for Mavericks fans.
Dallas Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison has been under consistent fire from the entire NBA, but specifically by Mavs fans, for his unbelievable idea to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Doncic was off to arguably the greatest start to a career that a superstar could have, making five First-Team All-NBAs in his first six seasons and leading the Mavericks to the NBA Finals in 2024.
But that wasn’t enough, as Nico Harrison had it in his mind that “defense wins championships” and shipped Doncic off in the middle of the night without warning, as Doncic says he hasn’t heard from Harrison, even when the trade was made.
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Doncic recently sat down with ESPN’s Malika Andrews for an interview as he gets set for his first playoff run as a Laker, where he revealed Nico Harrison never called him the night he was traded.
“Have you spoken to Nico Harrison since you left Dallas?” Andrews asked. “No,” Doncic responded.
“Had you spoken to him on the night you were traded?” Andrews asked. “No,” Doncic responded.
“Was your intention to finish your career in Dallas?” Andrews followed up. “Of course,” Doncic emphasized. “That’s an easy question.”
Most general managers or presidents of operations have the decency to call players when they’re being traded, but Nico Harrison couldn’t. Most GMs are also willing to stand for the trade and address the local media, something he has still yet to do besides a roundtable with select reporters and no cameras allowed.
If this isn’t the final nail in the coffin for Harrison’s tenure running the Mavericks, the fans in Dallas may completely give up on the organization if they haven’t already. The Mavericks have become a laughing stock nine months after making it to the NBA Finals, and that can’t go without consequence.