The NBA world turned on its head when the Dallas Mavericks traded their star and the face of their franchise, Luka Doncic, to the Los Angeles Lakers, receiving former Lakers forward Anthony Davis in return.
It was a move that caught many by surprise, including both Doncic and Davis. Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison and franchise CEO Rick Welts held a press conference earlier this week where they addressed the trade for the first time with select Dallas area reporters.
Harrison said that he has “no regrets” when it comes to the trade, citing his belief that “defense wins championships,” according to ESPN.
Now, Doncic is responding to the Mavericks’ press conference, and he’s painting a pretty sad picture about how things went down.
“I mean it’s painful, depending on how you take it,” Doncic said. “It mostly came from Dallas, so I didn’t want to talk back. But I don’t really read that much stuff. I’m just trying to focus on my journey.”
“Sadness, mostly,” Doncic said of his first feelings on being traded. “I was still in shock. Like, crazy shock. I felt like my heart was broken, honestly.”
As sad as it is, the Mavericks were actually right to cut Doncic loose. The Mavericks may have reached the NBA Finals last year, but it was clear how outmatched they were by the Boston Celtics.
Doncic’s inability to play defense at an even replacement level is going to come up year after year in the NBA, and as great as he is on offense, it’ll be nearly impossible for any team that employs him to go the distance and win the Finals.
So, as bad as the trade looked at the time, and looks now, Harrison made the correct call.
