Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison has seemingly become a public enemy among some Mavs fans after he made perhaps the most stunning trade in NBA history over the weekend.
The Mavericks traded away Luka Doncic, a 25-year-old superstar who had just led them to their first NBA Finals appearance since 2011. He is now a member of the storied Los Angeles Lakers organization. Dallas received a trade package centered around star big man Anthony Davis in return.
While Harrison has been criticized by many for his role in the seismic trade, a source told sports personality Colin Cowherd that the Doncic trade didn’t come from the Mavs general manager.
“I called somebody yesterday who has known Nico Harrison — the GM who made the deal, the Mavericks GM — he’s known him for 22 years, knew him when he was a longtime Nike representative, big shot at Nike,” Cowherd said of his source. “And I said, ‘You know, he made that trade deadline move last year I thought was smart. The Kyrie Irving thing was a big swing. He made some really, really good moves. This team was in the Finals. They weren’t competitive against Boston, but they made it to the Finals. What happened?’ And this person said, ‘This came from above and beyond the general manager.’ And when you only get one first-round pick back, that is somebody in ownership telling you, ‘Just make the deal. Subjugate your ego, make the deal.'”
Even if Cowherd’s source is correct, Harrison still has defended the trade publicly. Defense is one factor he has cited as a reason for the deal.
“I believe that defense wins championships,” Harrison told ESPN. “I believe that getting an All-Defensive center and an All-NBA player with a defensive mindset gives us a better chance. We’re built to win now and in the future.”
While Davis does make the Mavericks a more formidable defensive team on paper in the here and now, the rationale for such a move starts to get murkier when factoring in how the trade could impact Dallas’ future.
It’s arguable whether the Mavericks have a player on their roster right now who they can build their entire future around. Davis and Irving are certainly two of the NBA’s elite players, but they’re also starting to get up there in age.
Irving is 32 years old, and his 33rd birthday is coming up in the month of March. Additionally, Davis will turn 32 next month.
Davis has yet to make his Mavericks debut. Dallas’ next game on its schedule is a matchup against the defending champion Boston Celtics on Thursday night.
The Mavericks seemingly need him to enter the lineup as soon as possible, as Dallas is 0-2 since it traded Doncic and got blown out by more than 40 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers a few days ago. The team could use some victories to help its position in the Western Conference standings, as Dallas currently sits at just the No. 11 seed in the West at 26-25.
