Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison held a private press conference on Tuesday, where he spoke at length about the Luka Doncic trade. At one stage, Harrison stated Doncic could decide not to sign the supermax this offseason, and the Mavericks wouldn’t have gotten a big return for someone who could leave in free agency in 2026. That led to a rather tense exchange with ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
Tim MacMahon: “So first of all, Luka said he was absolutely signing the supermax. His decision was made. He was closing on a house here. Why not sign him to that supermax? I know you can’t trade him this year. Can’t trade him this summer. You gotta wait a year and a half. He would be under contract for at least four years at that point, and then he has no say. Damian Lillard wanted to go to Miami. He ended up in Milwaukee. If you want to maximize the value of Luka Doncic, why not use these supermax to your advantage?”
Nico Harrison: “Well, there’s no guarantee he would have signed a supermax, but…”
MacMahon: “He has guaranteed— the man was bawling on the bench. Like, come on.”
Harrison: “Well, like I said, we can agree to disagree, and that’s fine, but we targeted AD.”
Harrison claims there was no guarantee Doncic would sign that extension, but as MacMahon pointed out, the man himself has suggested otherwise. In the Slovenian’s introductory press conference as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, he was asked if he or his camp had indicated to the Mavericks that he wouldn’t sign the supermax.
“Absolutely not,” Doncic said.
By all indicators, it wasn’t that Doncic didn’t want to sign a five-year, $345 million extension, but that the Mavericks didn’t want to give it to him. The Athletic reported that the Mavs didn’t want to offer Doncic the supermax.
It would seem ridiculous to even suggest that a team wouldn’t want to give a player of his caliber that deal. Doncic had just led the Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals and had made the All-NBA First Team five years in a row.
Teams around the league would desperately cling to a player who had achieved all that, but not the Mavericks. As for why that was the case, Harrison reportedly was concerned by Doncic’s lack of discipline on and off the court. He didn’t think the five-time All-Star would change for the better, and reckoned that his body would break down in the future. Time will tell if that was a good prediction.
Harrison also doubled down on the decision to trade Doncic at this press conference. Even with all the backlash that has come his way, he does not regret shipping the star out of town. He believes that trade was what was best for the Mavericks, even if the fanbase wholeheartedly disagrees.
Harrison also thinks the team he has now put together is championship caliber. Injuries have, however, ensured that we’re not going to see this team at its best for a very long time.
