Nico Harrison may never have expected the full storm he invited when he traded Luka Doncic, but according to Stephen A. Smith, the real shock is how that trade came to be.
Speaking on First Take, Smith dropped a bombshell that flips the narrative around the league.
While it was widely believed that the Dallas Mavericks‘ ownership group initiated the idea of trading Luka Doncic to avoid committing to a looming $345 million supermax extension, Smith reported that it was in fact general manager Nico Harrison who approached ownership with the idea.
“Over the last week, I’ve received several phone calls where I’ve been told, Nico made that trade. He went to management and said, this is what I want to do. It wasn’t management coming to him saying, we don’t want to pay Luka 345 million.”
“They wanted to make sure their investment would be worth it, but it was Nico who went to them and said, I want to trade Luka Doncic. And I’m saying, if that’s true, he’s owned it.”
“Well part of owning it is being quiet about it, not saying anything, and saying, wait till next year when my boys are healthy. We missed a combined 345 games due to injury. Wait till you see us next year and move on. Stop talking about this. There’s no gain from it at this point. No gain.”
Stephen A. Smith says Nico Harrison told ownership that he wanted to trade Luka
“I've received several phone calls where I've been told… it was Nico who went to [Mavs management] and said ‘I want to trade Luka Doncic’”😳
(h/t @ClutchPoints)
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 22, 2025
The implications of this revelation are massive. If accurate, it removes any shield of financial responsibility or ownership-level pressure and places the full burden of the decision on Harrison’s shoulders.
More than that, it reveals that trading Doncic was not a reluctant compromise; it was a proactive decision by a GM convinced it was the best path forward.
This new context also reframes Harrison’s recent public appearances, where he has attempted to justify the move by pointing to injuries and long-term vision. While acknowledging the backlash, Harrison admitted he didn’t fully grasp how beloved Luka was in Dallas.
The fan reaction was immediate and furious. Protests outside the American Airlines Center. “Fire Nico” chants when Doncic returned to Dallas in a Lakers uniform. Social media is flooded with Mavs fans demanding accountability. And now, if Smith’s report is true, that anger has a clearer target.
Doncic, who never publicly requested a trade, was blindsided. He had bought property in Dallas, voiced his desire to play his whole career there, and even led the Mavericks to the Finals just a year prior. His camp had frustrations with how the team handled his injuries and medical staff turnover, but nowhere was there a formal demand to leave.
What makes this even more confusing for fans is that the return, headlined by Anthony Davis, has yet to inspire confidence. Davis was injured in his debut, and the Mavs failed to make it out of the Play-In. Meanwhile, Luka remains an MVP candidate and has reinvigorated a Los Angeles Lakers team once thought to be spiraling.
If this report is accurate, then Nico Harrison didn’t just miscalculate the trade—he misread the soul of the franchise. Luka Doncic wasn’t just a superstar. He was the superstar Dallas had waited for since Dirk.
And now, it seems, his departure wasn’t forced by money or a contract. It was driven by a man who underestimated what he meant to a city.
