Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison just put his name in the history books. The day he traded Luka Doncic will never be forgotten. And short of winning a title with Anthony Davis, but perhaps not even then, he may never be forgiven in Dallas.
Harrison knows that. Whether it’s some form of self-preservation or just a genuine assessment of reality, he’s even making jokes about it his prioritization of the short-term upside of this deal over the long-term fallout that is sure to come.
“The future to me is three to four years from now,” Harrison told reporters on Sunday, hours after finalizing a blockbuster trade to send Doncic and others to the Lakers in exchange for Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick. “The future ten years from now — they’ll probably bury me and [Mavericks coach Jason Kidd] by then. Or we’ll bury ourselves.”
There are all kinds of quotes from Harrison out there already about why he ultimately decided to pull the trigger on this deal. I’m paraphrasing here, but they range from: “defense wins championships and Luka doesn’t play defense or stay in shape” to “we weren’t sure about giving Luka a $400 million super-max contract and we wanted to avoid the drama of him eventually wanting to go elsewhere anyway.”
But it was the quote above, a mic drop of sorts as his last words before he walked off the podium, that best sums this thing up. It’s a short-term vs. long-term proposition, and Harrison seems to know there’s no way this deal will look anything other than devastating in Dallas down the line. But he’s betting on the Mavs being better in the here and now, and there is a case to be made that this is true.
I’m going to keep saying this: I genuinely believe the Mavericks are a better team today with Davis than they were with Doncic.
Luka Doncic trade grades: Lakers get ‘A+’ as they solve future, why Mavs fail despite landing Anthony Davis
Brad Botkin
I don’t care about the staying in shape stuff. Doncic is a generational player whether he’s in shape or not, and he generally stays healthy, or at least has so far. This isn’t a Zion Williamson situation. But the defense, in the short term, is a real consideration, even as historically dominant as Doncic is offensively. With Davis, the Mavericks, already a good defensive team, are going to become elite in a postseason sense. And he pairs next to Kyrie Irving as a two-man offensive duo perfectly, particularly with capable shooting around them.
The problem is, Doncic is one of one. And in the end you’re never going to find another one of him. It’s not something even winning a title can replace in the long-term evaluation of this deal. Harrison appears to know that, and he’s basically saying he doesn’t care. He’s happy to be buried by Mavs fans in the future, just as long as there’s a championship trophy next to him. He’s betting this team can make that happen, and it’s one of the craziest bets any general manager in any sport has ever made.
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