Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison says he miscalculated the depth of love his club’s fans had for Luka Dončić before the controversial trade that sent the star to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Even though fans have been calling for Harrison to be fired for months, he still believes that the deal was the right one to build Dallas into a championship contender. Harrison stated on Monday, “I did know that Luka was important to the fanbase.” “I didn’t know how high it was,” Harrison stated that he had anticipated the trade’s backlash, but that Anthony Davis’s inclusion in the lineup alongside Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, PJ Washington, and Dereck Lively II would have slowed it down sooner. Instead, those five players haven’t played together yet, and Davis and Irving only played less than three quarters together because of injuries. “We feel that’s a championship-caliber team and we would have been winning at a high level and that would have quieted some of the outrages,” Harrison said. “And so unfortunately we weren’t able to do that, so it just continued to go on and on.
According to Harrison, the Mavs are likely to select a promising player in the 11th round of this year’s draft. Additionally, he did not rule out free agency modifications. When asked what Dallas needed to become a contender once more, Harrison responded, “Really, we just need to get healthy.” I think the team we’re bringing back is good enough to win a championship. When Kyrie recovers from his injury next year, we fully anticipate having him back with us. And we believe we’ll be competing for a championship.”
Harrison repeatedly stated that “defense wins championships” during his defense of the trade last week. Doni has received criticism for his defense despite leading the Mavs to the NBA Finals the previous season. He called those remarks “sad.” Even though he claimed that he had not spoken to the five-time All-NBA selection since the trade, Harrison responded, “I feel the same way he does,” when asked about that exchange. I’ve never criticized Luka, and I’m just ready to move on with our current team.
