A week after a quiet roundtable with select reporters, Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison took to the podium on Monday for a nationally televised press conference.
At the conference, he defended his highly controversial decision to trade superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Since the deal, Dallas fans have expressed outrage, flooding social media and sports talk shows with frustration. The Mavericks’ early elimination from postseason contention by the Memphis Grizzlies only amplified criticism.
“I did know Luka was important to the Mavs’ fanbase,” Harrison said. “I didn’t quite know to what level. But, really, the way we looked at it is if you’re putting a team on the floor that’s Kyrie, Klay, PJ, Anthony Davis and Lively, we felt that’s a championship-caliber team.”
Harrison emphasized that the plan hinged on health, a variable that betrayed the Mavericks down the stretch.
“We weren’t able to keep our core healthy, and that skewed the results,” he noted. “If we’d been winning, the conversation would be different.”
Fans, however, remain unconvinced. A local supporter group known as “Luka’s Legion” has already announced plans to protest outside the American Airlines Center next week.
Yet, Harrison isn’t wavering. He doubled down on his belief that defense will guide the team to redemption: “I believe winning will help repair the relationship with the fans. That’s what we plan to do next year.”
Whether time and victories can heal the wound of losing Luka remains to be seen.
Nico Harrison: I Knew Luka Doncic Was Important To Mavs’ Fans, I Didn’t Quite Know To What Level https://t.co/Tc6Zb02Wxg
— RealGM (@RealGM) April 21, 2025
