Nick Wright didn’t hold back when discussing the Dallas Mavericks’ front office this week. On First Things First, the Fox Sports analyst went off on former general manager Nico Harrison, calling the Luka Doncic–Anthony Davis trade ‘the worst move an executive has made in sports in a hundred years.’
“It’s simply the worst move an executive has made in sports in a hundred years. It’s just that. He had his hubris and his quotes after the fact. If the trade itself didn’t fully do him in, those comments did. How many times have we heard that defense wins championships? You’re 3-8. Right now, you have the number three defense.”
“At this moment, the Dallas Mavericks have the third-best defense in the NBA. But they also have the 29th-best offense. So it doesn’t matter, because in professional basketball, the most important thing in the league is what Luka provides, offense.”
“Now, to win a championship, you also need defense, but you cannot forget that the team was built around Luka’s skill set. And then they didn’t have Luka anymore. The team immediately fell apart. I also don’t give him a pass on the injuries.”
“The moment you trade Luka, Kyrie plays 40 minutes a game for a month because he’s the only creator — and then he gets hurt. You trade for Anthony Davis, whose biggest knock is his injury history, and now you have to consider trading him too.”
When Harrison sent Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, the move was supposed to balance the Mavericks’ roster and strengthen their defense. Instead, it broke the foundation of a Finals-level team.
It’s a simple but painful truth. The Mavericks spent years and their future picks to build a system that worked perfectly around Doncic. They had shooters, spacing, and chemistry. Then they traded the player who made it all function. The result was predictable; their identity vanished overnight.
Harrison’s gamble backfired almost immediately. Dallas went from contender to bottom-feeder, starting the season 3-8 before Harrison was fired. The Mavericks’ offense ranks near the bottom of the league, and even their improved defense hasn’t helped much. Inside the locker room, frustration has started to grow.
It’s hard to think of a trade that’s aged worse. Doncic, 26, was a generational superstar, the kind of player teams spend decades trying to find. In Los Angeles, he’s thriving and leading the Lakers to one of the best records in the West.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks are left trying to make sense of what happened. Davis, who was supposed to be the defensive anchor, is already battling injuries. He could possibly be moved, but reports suggest that he will stay for the foreseeable future.
The team’s offense is lifeless, and their chemistry is gone.
In a way, it’s like building a car with the best possible parts and then taking out the engine right before the race. That’s what Nico Harrison did when he traded Luka Doncic.
Now, the Lakers have their next superstar for the next decade. The Mavericks are starting over again.
Nick Wright’s words might sound harsh, but they fit the moment. Some front-office mistakes take years to hurt. This one destroyed a franchise in a month.
