Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison has become public enemy no. 1 for the fanbase ever since he traded away Luka Doncic. It was a shocking decision and The Athletic’s Christian Clark, Mike Vorkunov, and Fred Katz have shed some light on Harrison’s reasoning behind trading Doncic for a package revolving around Anthony Davis.
“Privately and publicly, Harrison has said he moved Doncic for Davis because he felt it gave Dallas the best chance at raising the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Harrison believes that Davis is a better cultural fit for what the Mavericks want to build.”
The Athletic also reports that Harrison’s message for the Mavericks players after trading Doncic was that the goal remained the same: Win a championship. While that’s the right message, it’s doubtful anyone on the team was all too interested in what he had to say after trading away the Slovenian.
Harrison clearly believes that Davis is far more likely to take the Mavericks across the finish line than Doncic. There is no doubt that the big man is an incredible player, but the fact is many of the concerns that the Mavericks GM had about Doncic apply to him as well.
There were reportedly fears that Doncic’s body would break down sooner than anyone could anticipate as he doesn’t care much about conditioning. It was one of the big reasons why the Mavericks did not want to offer the supermax to Doncic this summer, even though he wanted to stay.
You can understand the Mavericks being unwilling to give a five-year, $345 million deal to a player they believe will be hampered by injuries in a few years. The problem, though, is that they parted with that player for someone who has been hampered by injuries for much of the last five years.
Davis played 76 games for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2023-24 but that was the first time he had played over 70 games since the 2017-18 season. He is also 31 years old now and big men who struggled with injuries in their 20s don’t tend to get healthier in their 30s.
The Mavericks are also making a significant financial commitment to Davis, as his three-year, $175 million extension kicks in from next season. You hate to say it, but there is a good chance that the 10-time All-Star spends a fair bit of time in the last year or two of the deal on the sidelines due to injury.
Davis is currently injured too, having suffered an adductor strain on his Mavericks debut against the Houston Rockets. It would appear he won’t need surgery but is set to be out for a significant period of time.
While some might say the Mavericks were just unlucky here, the fact is they traded for an injury-prone player. It’s what makes the reasoning for parting with Doncic seem so absurd.
As for the culture, Doncic couldn’t possibly have had too negative of an impact on it considering the success the Mavericks had with him in recent years. The five-time All-Star took them to the Western Conference Finals in 2022 and then the NBA Finals in 2024.
What we saw last year wasn’t a flash in the pan and you’d have expected to see the Mavericks back on the big stage in the near future. Their chances of accomplishing that have dipped significantly, though, after trading Doncic.
If the Mavericks don’t win a title in the coming years with Davis, the decision to part with Doncic will go down as arguably the worst one in NBA history. They better be praying the big man stays healthy and take them to the Promised Land.
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