Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison and head coach Jason Kidd addressed the media prior to Dallas’ game at Cleveland on Sunday afternoon after the Luka Doncic–Anthony Davis three-team blockbuster was made official.
Harrison said that he never discussed a contract extension with Doncic or his representatives. There had been speculation that Doncic may have informed Dallas’ front office that he wouldn’t remain with the organization long-term.
Doncic was eligible to sign a five-year, $345MM super-max extension this summer, and league sources told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon that Doncic anticipated agreeing to that deal. However, Harrison wasn’t sure about making that type of commitment and Doncic could have opted out of his current deal after next season.
Harrison decided on a preemptive strike rather than dealing with a potentially touchy situation.
“There’s some unique things about his contract that we had to pay attention to,” Harrison said. “There’s other teams that were loading up that he was going to be able to decide, make his own decision at some point of whether he wants to be here or not. Whether we want to super-max him or not, or whether he wants to opt out. So, I think we had to take all that into consideration, and I feel like we got out in front of what could have been a tumultuous summer.”
Harrison has been heavily criticized since the deal came to light late on Saturday night, not only because he gave up a 25-year-old superstar but also because he only picked up one first-round pick in the trade. He’s willing to accept the consequences if it doesn’t produce a championship for the Mavericks.
“Well, let’s be clear: I’m the one making the decision and [Kidd]’s supportive of it, so it’s me,” he said. “I don’t do anything that’s scary. I think everything that we do, we put a lot of work into it, we study it and we re-study it and we go back. I understand the magnitude of it. So, the easiest thing for me to do is do nothing, and everyone would praise me for doing nothing. But we really believe in it — and time will tell if I’m right.”
While he didn’t directly criticize Doncic, Harrison referenced “culture” as a big part of his reasoning for acquiring Davis. Harrison initiated talks with Los Angeles general manager Rob Pelinka over coffee when the Lakers played the Mavs on Jan. 7, and those discussions progressed over the following weeks, according to MacMahon.
“It’s important to know that Kidd and I are aligned and we talk about archetypes and we talk about the culture we want to create,” Harrison said, per Joe Vardon and Christian Clark of The Athletic. “There are levels to it, and there are people that fit the culture, and there are people that come in and add to the culture. Those are two distinct things and I believe the people that are coming in are adding to the culture.”
Kidd, who was an assistant with the Lakers when they won the championship in 2020, echoed those comments.
“When you look at the vision of the team and what Nico wants to do, I truly support that, and truly believe that the players that we are getting are the ones who can help us achieve that, and that’s to win a championship,” he said.
The team, for now, will be built around Davis and Kyrie Irving.
“I think (Irving is) shocked, but understand he’s been in this league and has seen different things, so understanding we have to push forward,” Kidd said, per Mike Curtis of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). “He probably saw things differently and I’m speaking from my point of view. At some point, you guys will ask him the questions and I know he’ll give you guys the answers that you’re looking for.”
Doncic posted a statement on social media, thanking the Dallas fans and community and expressing that he never expected to leave the organization. “I thought I’d spend my career here and I wanted so badly to bring you a championship,” he wrote. The full statement can be accessed here.
I don’t believe that supermax contract is the main reason
We’re talking 69 mill. per year for a player whose durability is starting to raise concerns.
“Starting”?
Also, they said his conditioning was a problem as well. Sounds like if both team and player needed a fresh start…
It’s Nike and NBA owners engineering the trade
“We did it Patrick we saved the city!” SpongeBob SquarePants vibe check
Just my opinion but I don’t believe any of this
I think he asked to go to La or Mia ( the mystery team imo ) and threatened to just walk-in a year and a half for nothing if not
. No need to get dramatic in the media so Nico just accepted the highest offer today from said destination to avoid a jimmy sitch. No outside team would blow the offer away for an 18 month. Rental so the trade grew legs quick
I think Lebron knew all along as well , almost certain , the dinner in Ny w fams was a perfect coordinated time drop
Please … if he knew that, open it up to the rest of the league for the best offer.
There was no rest of the league imo
It was Lakers or mystery team ( which I believe was Mia )
Rain Delay, it’s just my opinion, but your opinion is right.
For the big superstars, there are, literally, 100’s of millions of dollars to be gained by playing in LA for the duration of their careers. Their agencies, who get a cut, remind them of that from day 1.
Luka follows LeBron and Shaq before him. And after Luka, there will be another. Those of us not from LA (or NYC) just need to get over it.
You think a lot of wrong things, without any proof
This guy is a clown.
Watched every word of the press conference. Just a bunch of vague word salads and the media didn’t push nearly hard enough asking why he traded Slovenian LeBron at age 25
I am the NBA Illuminati.
Ratings are down and Lakers need a Superstar.
I made Nico trade Luka to Lakers to get ratings up.
This is for the benefit of the whole league.
I am the Godfather Bigspoon.
Ratings are down bc
A- The nba has made the Nba very hard to view games for the modern era ( blackouts on the package / nobody buys cable anymore
B- illegal streaming has made it very easy to circumvent these unnecessary barriers
They obv don’t count illegal streams w the ratings – The USA has finally in the last month gotten cooperation from Vietnam where most of these illegal servers are based out of to shut them down . Lotta the big dogs have been shut down already
SMH would have been better to wait until the offseason. They could have traded for a great package instead all eggs in 1 basket on AD.
Considering the reports that Luka had already ballooned up to 270lbs, he might have been 300 by the off-season. Good luck trading that.
Yes that and you might well be trading a rental at that point.
Years from now and possibly decades, we all will know the magnitude of this tumultuous trade that not only changed the course of two franchises forever but possibly the lives of the GMs involved. Nobody will want Rob P fired and it’s open season for anyone in Dallas it appears.
Don’t buy it and don’t believe anything he says. Even if true:
A) you’re going to be paying Anthony Davis a lot of money. He’s due $54 million next season, $58 million for 2026-27, and a player option of $62 million for 2027-28
B) you apparently, despite trading one of the most coveted players in the league, only approached the Lakers for a potential deal instead of setting off a bidding war
C) definitely should have extracted more from the Lakers than Davis and a pick. Get more teams involved if needed but if you’re only going to negotiate with one team (again, why?), you better get the best return possible
D) even if you want to avoid paying Doncic all of that money, you’re still going to need to pay… someone. This isn’t baseball. You have to spend some money. Even the worst teams in the league have a big payroll. So how much are you really saving? And at what expense to the product on the court?
This trade is so ridiculous on so many levels.
They gave up 91 points in the first half today. So much for defense wins championships. Is one guy really going to fix that? Unless he murdered someone, this will go down as the worst trade in the history of professional sports.
With a depleted roster. Look who played.
I don’t know how much of a better player Doncic is than AD right now. If at all. Luka is one of the worst defenders in the NBA and their offensive numbers aren’t that different. Luka has the ball a lot more so it may feel that way, but if he’s a top 5 player AD is a top 7 or 8. Big difference is age, but Luka’s belly has something to say about that.
“I don’t know how much of a better player Doncic is than AD right now.”
If you want to split hairs, sure. But when you’re talking about elite players, even a marginal difference in skill can mean a lot. I don’t think the Mavs are in the Finals last year if they have AD instead of Doncic. Doncic is, along with Jokic, one of the most dominant players in the league. Not a knock on Davis. He’s a top 75 all time player. But he’s not as good as Doncic, he’s six years older, and last season was the first time he’d played over 62 games in the last seven years. Mavericks totally botched this process.
Dallas trading Luka after a finals appearance is dumber than any Jerry Jones decision made for the Cowboys ever possibly.
Lol orders is magnitude better than AD
He’s been winning since a kid and has only the bubble championship to show
You’d think that having a prime perennial MVP candidate as your trade chip, you’d start a bidding war to get the best combination of players and draft picks ….. F that, this Harrison dude has a different agenda.
Lol.
Exactly!!!
AD is really good. You so-called basketball freaks only look at one side of the ball.
AD is indeed good, I’ve posted twice that the MAVS should have a 2-year window now ……. more, if Harrison balances out the roster, they have glut of bigs now.
But it doesn’t change the fact, that the MAVS could have had MORE instead of just AD, Christie & a single pick ……. they could have contacted more teams, for better combination of prime players & more picks – it’s Luka after all, a legit top 5 player, in his prime.
I think once the Mavs decided to trade Luka (they must’ve not liked their chances of re-signing him to an extension), they accepted that their long-term ceiling would inevitably take a hit no matter what, and no viable trade package/player exists that would change that fact. So Nico decided to maximize their short-term window instead. He must view AD as the only viable, gettable, 2-way superstar that can realistically give them a decent shot to contend this year and next due to his elite defense (along with Christie’s). Mavs must view the trade as a wash if they can win a championship in the near-term. It’s the only way to make sense of the trade and why he approached Pelinka and zeroed in on AD.
“Saved me having to do my job by getting a lesser trade return than if we did it before he signed in the offseason!” – fixed it for you.
It’s such clownery by these front offices every single time they complain, if you peel the layers of crud they put on, its really just saying “I didnt have to do my job today”. Great. You destroyed your long term future because you didn’t want to put work in. When are these nepo baby losers going to get replaced by Ai?
Harrison just keeps digging. He made the deal to avoid a tumultuous summer? Does he have plans for the summer that would interfere with him dealing with the most important trade this franchise has ever made?
If Doncic initiated this (expressly or by implication), then he should say so! He has no reason to protect Doncic’s image, at the expense of his own. In effect that’s what he’s doing by suggesting it was ALL his decision. He’d take much less heat from the fanbase if they know that Luka initiated this. He’d still have to explain why he only dealt with one other team (and perhaps contacted only one other team, it’s unclear), but the narrative changes.
Yeah the more he’s saying … it really just feels like the ownership just cares about profit. Luka missed out on $100+ million for a supermax, so he def would’ve stayed for a few years longer.
DAL is now below the tax line, gets an extra $12-15M, and say they thought AD was the win now move.
Just doesn’t pass the smell test since Luka is still only 25. Yeesh
Totally agree , but admitting that it was a severely closed market could land him and the org in some hot water with Silver most likely ( depending on which side of the bed Adam woke up on that day )
IDK. I can’t see DAL’s new owners paying billions for the team, and then letting Silver’s non-sense characterize their first big move into one that alienates their fanbase. It might do that on substance anyway, but less so.
it’s pretty satisfying watching all these DAL tears.
Cowardice
Nico could have avoided his tumultuous summer by quitting his job. What you saved the new owners (Adelson, Dupont) in short-term luxury taxes, you’re losing a greater amount of long-term fan revenue. The Mavs can win a championship this year and still lose this trade. Giving away a face of the league player is dumb, dumb, dumb.
Magic took over a decade to be relevant at all after they dealt Howard to LA.
I wonder most, who is second mystery team.
Impactful bigs with good d are not so common. You have Adebayo, Jackson, Embid as only i could imagine Mavs would look for, obviously VW is not an option, and OKC, Cavs don’t want to blow their top teams.
So who of this teams would reject Doncic offer?
Its Wemby. Spurs would be the laughingstock if they traded Wemby to the Mavs.
Half-convinced the Adelmans told Harrison to do this so they could break the trust of the Dallas fanbase and move the team to Vegas. They’re all about gambling income in the first place. If there’s anything there, it’s those losers.
They wouldnt get approval with the NBA already looking to sell the rights to that city in an expansion in the near future. Its part of getting a really big expansion fee.
What I don’t understand is why not make it known to the league you’re open to trading Luka? You could have gotten a lot more back in return. Just seems really odd you contact one team when trading a generational talent like Luka. It’s not necessarily the trade but more about how they handled it and executed it is more scrutinized than the trade itself.
I read an article that Davis is the only player he would have traded Doncic for and turned down an offer from another team two weeks ago.
That’s even more idiotic. Overestimating Davis and getting less than Utah got for mitchel
That’s how you get fired in professional sports as a GM by having tunnel vision. Nico will be lucky if he’s with the Mavs next year
Hope he’s telling his boss the real reason, cause I presume “I’m incompetent” is going to fly even less to the Adelsons
I guess the mavericks org doesnt want any championships any time soon coz he’s one of those generational talent that comes rarely and they’re passing this one out. How absurd is that. Instead of getting more talent to compliment luka… decided to do the other way. The gm must have not thought abt this really good. They’re gonna hit their heads against a wall 2-3 yrs from now. I understand mavs is not a high market org but still…
The more Harrison talks, the dumber he looks. Maybe try to get out ahead of not embarrassing yourself further
Nico is a dead man walking. Horrible press conference making jokes after trading away a player that will go down better than Dirk & go into the HOF as a Laker now ♂️
Mark Cuban must be in a coma for this to happen.
He sold his majority so he is no longer a voice in these. They don’t need his approval to make these deals.
Going to go down as the worst GM in professional sports history.
Didn’t want to bring a championship that bad if he couldn’t lay off the beer and pizza and get into shape.
Jokic is also out for shape
And it’s like they are zion-fat
If i traded the face of my franchise for a dude nicknamed “street clothes” at the end of his prime, I’d come up with better reasoning than it was going to be hard. You get paid millions Nico, it should be tumultuous all the time.
This isn’t just a dumb trade. It’s malpractice. And he keeps digging the hole deeper with every comment.
Not gonna avoid unemployed summer though, the return on the trade isn’t enough sure, but that’s not even the worst part, every word Nico Harrison has said since this trade sounds like someone who did some ish off the cuff and forgot he’d have to explain it
This is NBA Mafia Move!
Gangsters get it done!
Views are down and Lakers need a Superstar.
I am the Godfather that made this happen.
If Nico did not do it…he will sleep with the fishes…capish?
Muted capish. What a clown
Well, you probably just made your concerns 10x worse, so good going buddy.
I never dreamt there would be a more hated sports figure in the DFW area than Jerry Jones, but here we are. He better live in another area in the offseason. If he doesn’t he better move.
Nico assumed Luka would leave…. funny thing is, even if luka did decline a contract extension later on down the road or ask for a trade. They would of had a whole year to find a deal and The package the mavs would recieve would of been a lot better than what the currently received. F mavs. Go Lakers and LUKA
This is win now for Mavs. They have beaten the Thunder this yr. IMO going big is way to beat Thunder. Mavs are doing that. With the this trade. The window is for now and next few yrs.
Lakers still missing pieces ……
Win now with a loser player that only has a bubble championship yo show for and misses more games than 40 year old LeBron….
Mavs will be lucky not to be a lottery team moving forward. How many games is unibrow going to miss ? Klay Thompson looked great yesterday with his 1-10 shooting and 2 points.
Wait so Mavs are a contender for the next few years but in the same breath the lakers are missing pieces? Al put down the bottle and catch some sleep. You sound like sillybot or Davey J
Doncic would have resigned with Dallas, everyone saying he wouldn’t or that the Dallas believed so, sounds silly trying to explain the worst trade of the decade
If that’s the case it should be win a championship by next season or youre fired. Nico Harrison sounds like such a shady person
Luka will be the new face of LA Burger King amd LA sports rehab clinic. He’ll make thousands more in LA! Then Luka gets the bird flu from anti-vax LeBron.