Dallas Mavericks' Nico Harrison offers flawed logic for lopsided Luka Doncic trade

The NBA world is still recovering from one of the most significant (and strangest) trades in league history that went down this season, and as the playoffs get underway there's still no rational explanation behind what the Dallas Mavericks did with Luka Doncic.

The Los Angeles Lakers were the recipients of seemingly one of the most lopsided trades in NBA history when they landed Doncic in exchange for an aging Anthony Davis. Now that the dust has settled even further, Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison and the entire Dallas organization has more questions to answer than ever before.

Nico said “defense wins championships” repeatedly in response to any question about why the Luka trade happened. i’ll have more on our @DLLS_Mavs show at noon. https://t.co/nAXxQIUXnS
— tim cato (@tim_cato) April 15, 2025

Harrison and other Dallas executives met with a handful of local reporters on Tuesday, and the Mavs GM made one of the most ludicrous statements to date in regards to the Doncic trade.

When he was pressed about why the franchise would trade away such a valuable piece for such little in return, Harrison reportedly only responded with "defense wins championships."

I was not among the reporters invited to speak with Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison and CEO Rick Welts this morning.

A front office that is confident in its moves doesn't need to speak only to selected media without recording devices.

This has been an utterly bizarre season.
— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) April 15, 2025

As this saga drags on further it's hard to imagine how Harrison can keep his job given the circus that has ensued since the Doncic trade, but the attention around the Mavs will only be compounded further if the Lakers make a deep run in the NBA playoffs, or potentially even win the NBA Finals.

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