The Luka Doncic Trade Cost Nico Harrison His Job and Will Haunt Him Forever

The Luka Doncic trade never made any sense.

While the Dallas Mavericks waited until November to fire general manager Nico Harrison, he really fired himself during the first week of February when he traded franchise icon Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.

At the time, everybody was blown away by the decision to part ways with the international phenom in the middle of his prime. The return seemed suspect as well, as the Mavericks only got back an aging superstar in Anthony Davis, a role player in Max Christie, and one first-round draft pick.

Harrison quickly defended the move as a trade that would help the Mavericks contend for a championship right away. Doncic’s deficiencies on the defensive side of the court were well documented, as Davis has been one of the best defenders in the sport. Leaks also surfaced about Doncic’s health, weight, and training regimen.

Dallas mercifully was awarded with the No. 1 overall pick, which turned out to be Duke superstar Cooper Flagg.

Pairing Davis with Flagg and All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving was supposedly enough to contend for a title in Harrison’s view.

Out of a possible 45 games since the trade transpired, Davis has only played in 14 games. According to The Athletic, Harrison tried rushing Davis along in his injury recovery – likely to save face from this nonsensical trade.

Injuries have followed Davis throughout his career. Now 32 years old, it’s difficult to envision a world where the 6-foot-10 big man will be an available contributor.

The Mavericks only have three wins. Who could have seen that coming?

Irving has yet to suit up this season. Davis played the first three games of the season before leaving his fourth start in just seven minutes and has yet to play in November.

At 35 years old, Klay Thompson is whatever he is during this stage of his career. At 18 years old, Flagg certainly has room for growth and needs development.

The Mavericks are likely closer to rebuilding than anything else. At full strength, Irving, Davis, and Flagg could be fun. But the veterans of that trio are never healthy enough to give anybody any real optimism.

While Flagg can jumpstart a rebuild, the organization would be wise to move on from an injury-prone Davis. Surely, a real contender could use his services.

Forget about the fact that Doncic and Austin Reaves have the Los Angeles Lakers looking like one of the best teams in basketball right now. Forget about the fact that LeBron James has still yet to suit up for the Lakers this season. Forget about the fact that Doncic was a fan favorite, cultural hero, and the closest thing that Mavericks fans would have to Dirk Nowitzki.

Harrison simply got fleeced for one of the best players of this generation and will likely never be a general manager ever again as a result of that.