Nico Harrison admits he underestimated size of Luka Doncic's importance to the Dallas fans

When the Dallas Mavericks traded former franchise superstar Luka Dončić in February, fans were left in shock, with some even fuming. Doncic was considered to be the team’s next face, following in the footsteps of Dirk Nowitzki, who brought them an NBA championship in 2011.

With the Mavericks’ fan fury after the Doncic trade, Dallas general manager Nico Harrison acknowledged the magnitude of the deal, saying that he underestimated Doncic’s importance to the fans. They had embraced him since the team traded for him on draft night in 2018.

“I did know Luka was important to the fan base. I didn't quite know it to what level,” Harrison said in a press conference on Monday.

Harrison then went on to express the rationale behind the trade, which was to bolster their defensive front by adding Anthony Davis, who is a perennial candidate for Defensive Player of the Year.

"The way we looked at it is if you're putting a team on the floor that's Kyrie (Irving), Klay (Thompson), P.J. (Washington), Anthony Davis, and (Derrick) Lively, we feel that's a championship caliber team, and we would have been winning at a high level. That would've quieted some of the outrage,” he added.

“Unfortunately we weren't able to do that, so it just continued to go on and on,” Harrison said.

The Mavericks finished as the 10th seed in the Western Conference, following a brief run at the top five while Doncic was still with them early in the season. They finished the season with a 39-43 win-loss record.

Dallas had a chance to reach the playoffs after winning their play-in tournament game against the Sacramento Kings, but was blown out by the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies.

Injuries also played a role in the Mavericks’ post-Doncic fallout as Kyrie Irving tore his ACL in March, while Davis struggled with his leg injuries. The team also missed time from Dereck Lively Jr., Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington among others.

Meanwhile, Doncic helped the LA Lakers, alongside LeBron James, to stay in third spot in the West with an impressive 50-32 season.

Nico Harrison believes he did a good job dealing with this season’s woes

Despite the backlash he got from the Dallas fanbase, Nico Harrison believed he did a good job of handling the team’s woes in the latter half of the regular season.

"I think I’ve done a really good job here. And I don’t think I should be judged based on the injuries we dealt with this season,” Harrison said in the same press conference.

He also assured fans that after the injuries healed up, the team would be competing for the title.

"We had a lot of injuries. Next year, we’ll be competing for a championship," he said.

The team has an entire offseason to gear up their roster for next year, as they are expected to continue in the bottom half of an always-competitive West.