Mavs boss defends Doncic trade, insists ‘no regrets’

Beleaguered Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison on Tuesday defended his decision to trade away Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, insisting he had “no regrets” over the deal.

Harrison has been become a hate-figure amongst Mavericks fans in the wake of the shock trade in February that sent Doncic to Los Angeles with Anthony Davis heading in the opposite direction.

Chants of “Fire Nico” have been a regular occurrence at Mavs games ever since, and rang out again last week when Doncic and the Lakers played in Dallas.

However in comments to Dallas media reported on Tuesday, Harrison was adamant that the decision to move on Doncic was in the best interests of the franchise.

“There’s no regrets on the trade,” Harrison was quoted as saying by ESPN.

“Part of my job is to do the best thing for the Mavericks, not only today, but also in the future, and some of the decisions I’m going to make are going to be unpopular. That’s my job, and I have to stand by it.”

Although Doncic guided Dallas to last season’s NBA Finals, Harrison maintained that the acquisition of Davis’s defensive talents would enable Dallas to challenge for championships in future.

“Our philosophy, like I said, going forward is defense wins championships and we’re built on defense. And this trade cements us for that,” Harrison said.  

Harrison was speaking ahead of the Mavericks’ must-win play-in tournament game in California on Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings, where a defeat will mark the end of the team’s season.