End of the Magic: Harrison trades Luka and Leaves Maverick Faithful Reeling

Jorge Guajardo 

600 ESPN El Paso 

What Went Down The Night of February First  

The Dallas Mavericks sent shockwaves through the NBA landscape, trading five-time All-NBA selection and face of the Dallas Mavericks franchise Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick in a move that stunned fans and executives alike.  

The trade, which came just days before the Feb. 6 deadline, marks one of the most significant player movements in NBA history, drawing comparisons to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's arrival in Los Angeles in 1975. 

This move represents the biggest gamble of Harrison's tenure, particularly given Dallas has already traded away control of their first-round picks from 2027 to 2030. The Mavericks received only the Lakers' 2029 first-round pick in the deal. Many will recall his deals to trade for Kyrie Irving, PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford were all generally panned at first and ended up working out for the Mavericks after a title run ended in defeat at the hands of the Celtics last season. 

The magnitude was not lost on Harrison who had a peculiar way of showing it speaking for himself and head coach Jason Kidd. “The future to me is [three, four] years from now,” Harrison said, per Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports. “The future 10 years from now -- they'll probably bury me and [Jason Kidd] by then. Or we'll bury ourselves.”

Meanwhile, the move continues the Lakers' historic ability to acquire superstar talent, adding Doncic to a franchise lineage that includes West, Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, O'Neal, Bryant, James, and Davis — all members of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team, with Doncic likely to join the hundredth-anniversary team.  

Speculating As to Why 

The move seems to be the exclusive, brainchild of Mavericks’ GM Nico Harrison, who, over the course of three weeks and ultimately in the darkness of Saturday night operated covertly, without informing his team, and only informing his coach, Jason Kidd, at the last minute before the deal had been completed that the player he came to coach in Dallas would be shipped off to Los Angeles.  

Harrison, whose smile could be mistaken for a snarl at the press conference, reached into the bag of “coach talk,” and pulled out the old “defense wins championships,” line well a shell-shocked coach Kidd sat there glaring into space as if a ghost had crossed his field of vision. Harrison, who has a prior relationship with Davis, and likely coveted him, from his time as a Nike executive, defended the trade. "We're built to win now," Harrison told ESPN.  

To look into the details of this trade makes one wonder why anybody who has seen and worked with Luka Doncic would say that. The Mavericks trading a 25-year-old who had just led them to the NBA finals for a soon-to-be 32-year-old player Anthony Davis, with an extensive injury history, left fans and league execs perplexed.  

Amidst the chaos on Saturday night, ESPN reported that Dallas had concerns about Doncic's conditioning and the potential supermax contract he would be eligible to sign this summer. Due to a calf strain, Doncic has only played in 22 games this season and hasn't played more than 70 games in a season since his rookie year.  

Ironically, the Mavs' prize possession of this trade in Anthony Davis is currently hurt with an abdominal injury. Speculation is he won't be ready to play until a week after his arrival in Dallas. Davis, 31, is averaging 25.7 points and 11.9 rebounds this season, shooting 52.8% from the field this year. Arguably the best season of his career. Davis also waived his trade bonus to facilitate the deal, which keeps Dallas under the luxury tax threshold. 

Even still, the rumors swirling around the Mavs and particularly GM Nico Harrison cannot be ignored. Talk of what can only be perceived as petty jealousy between Harrison and Doncic, who was not a Nico Harrison draft pick, that honor belonged to Donnie Nelson, the previous Mavericks GM. 

Reports that Harrison had systematically removed people Doncic was comfortable with, and liked, from the Mavericks organization only for Doncic to rally and push on with no desire to leave. Harrison ironically spoke about culture during the press conference and said how Doncic didn’t fit the culture even though it was Doncic who built it.  

A Brutal Reality 

One of the things fans are constantly reminded of when it comes to not just their favorite teams but sports, in general, is that these games and teams that they love are ultimately a business. One that is frequently dispiriting, crass, and cut-throat. Mavs fans are feeling all the feelings that come with losing a championship along with somebody that they felt belonged to them. Mavericks fans the stages of grief are now yours to navigate. 

Sunday morning saw Mavericks fans gathered outside the American Airlines Center to express shock and dismay at the departure of the 25-year-old superstar. The mourning melancholy was joined by a mock funeral held by loyal fans with a casket that featured Doncic’s Mavs jersey held at the steps near the Dirk Nowitzki statue, with the words “Loyalty never fades away,” inscribed in it.   

Those words seem ironic in the face of a franchise that just shipped the face of its organization to a conference rival. Apparently for Nico Harrison loyalty not only fades away, it fades fast. He had no problem trading away a player who, for nearly seven years, led the Mavericks in most meaningful statistics and last year alone led all playoff teams in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, and 3-pointers made. It’s fair to say Doncic laid it out for the Mavs, but Harrison did not repay those efforts.   

Trading him set an array of effects into motion for Doncic. Harrison’s deal means that Doncic is no longer eligible for his supermax deal from any team once his contract expires at the end of the 2026 season. The Mavs also decidedly disrespected the star on his way out, essentially calling him a poor defender who was out of shape, as well as somebody who had fostered a culture that wasn’t one that the Mavs front office liked. A strange thing to say considering his last four playoff trips have included two Western Conference Finals appearances and a Finals appearance.  

For the Mavs, the financial implications of trading Doncic extend far beyond his potential supermax contract. During his tenure, Doncic transformed the Mavericks into a global brand, with the team's merchandise sales ranking in the NBA's top-five since 2021. His No. 77 jersey consistently ranked among the league's best-sellers, trailing only Stephen Curry and LeBron James in global sales last season.  

Anonymous sources across social media and the internet suggest that this was a power trip by Harrison, who coveted Davis and had grown weary of Doncic, his perceived lack of effort towards his conditioning, and his poor attitude. Basketball fans, in particular, Mavs fans will likely never know the real answer, and neither will Doncic.   

What now  

The Mavericks will field a huge team once Davis returns from injury, even more so once Derek Lively recovers as well. Davis will slide nicely into the 4 spot that he covets and with Kyrie at the helm this team should be formidable on both sides of the ball.  

However, as it stands the Mavs are currently the eighth seed in the ultra-competitive west sitting at 26-24 even if the Mavericks can get things going it’s hard to see a path back to the finals even with a healthy Anthony Davis.   

Financially the future looks less certain. Season ticket holders have reportedly begun flooding the team's offices with cancellation requests. Images of cancellations to NBA TV have also been widely circulated and the Mavs lost tens of thousands of followers across social media platforms.  

Perhaps Mavericks fans can find solace and cherish and hold onto the fact that they had one of the greatest basketball talents ever on their team for almost seven years. A player who was committed to the team and city instead of focusing on a future that was traded away.