Nico Harrison decides to double down on stupid

[Sixers in 4]

Mavs GM Nico Harrison has no regrets about Luka Doncic trade

"There's no regrets on the trade," said Harrison, whose only other media availability since the trade was a brief pregame session the following day in Cleveland. "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."

"But our philosophy, like I said, going forward is defense wins championships and we're built on defense. And this trade cements us for that."

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/44685264/mavs-gm-nico-harrison-no-regrets-luka-doncic-trade

[Drygon]

[Curtis] Nico Harrison's answers to each of the questions he was asked in his meeting with the Dallas media this morning

Harrison on how he responds to the outraged fanbase and why does he think Patrick Dumont should not take them up on that advice to fire him:

“Well, the beauty of Dallas is it is a passionate fanbase. For us to reach our goals, we need that fanbase. And to be honest with you, every trade I’ve made since I’ve been here has not been regarded as a good trade. So sometimes it takes time.

When I traded for Kyrie, it was met with a lot of skepticism and it was graded as a terrible trade. You didn’t see it right away, but eventually everyone agreed that it was a great trade. When I traded for Gaff and Lively, it was like, ‘Oh, he gave up way too much.’ These guys are going to help us. Now that trade, you saw the evidence a lot sooner.

So I think a lot of times, trades take a little bit of time but our philosophy going forward is defense wins championships, and we’re built on defense. This trade cements us for that.”

Harrison on if he felt like the Mavs maximized the return for Luka, given Cuban’s “get a better deal” statement:

“When you look at this trade, we targeted AD. With our philosphy of defense wins championships, we wanted a two-way player to lead our team and that was Anthony Davis. Everyone’s going to have their criticism. I’m not sure what Mark (Cuban) said, but that’s a better question left for him. But we got what we wanted.”

Harrison on if he could do it over again, would he do it the same way given the reaction from the fan base:

“Yeah, there’s no regrets on the trade. Part of my job is to do the best thing for the Mavericks, not only today, but also in the future. Some of the decisions I’m going to make are going to be unpopular. And that’s my job and I have to stand by it. One last thing, I’ll also add that every trade I’ve done has been met with high scrutiny, and so eventually, I’ll earn the trust of this community back. Some of these trades are going to work out and they have at a high level.”

Harrison on if he sees himself in Dallas long term. Does he want to be this team’s GM in 2028, 2029?

“Yeah, I have three years left on my contract. I see myself finishing it out. In terms of Dallas, this is our home. My family, they’re going to finish school here. This is where we live, so this is where I’m living.”

Does Harrison feel like there was any underestimation on what Doncic meant to this fanbase and with that in mind, what did this trade do to his relationship with the fanbase?

“I don’t think there was an underestimation, but clearly we knew afterwards, his impact on the fanbase. I do think our intended roster we put on the floor would’ve subsided a lot of the fanbase’s vitriol, you know, because they would be out there winning. Obviously, with a lot of the injuries we weren’t able to do that and that increased and brought a lot of people that may not have even had an opinion. So that’s unfortunate.”

Does Harrison have any have any concerns about your ability to attract top talent to the Mavericks in the future, given the fallout from the trade?

“No. I don’t. I think that’s one of the reasons why I’m here. But it’s not just me. It’s Dallas. It’s one of the fifth largest metroplexes in the US. It’s a great city to live in. The fanbase is amazing. Part of the ”Fire Nico" chants, although, you would rather the fans cheer for the team and me not be the story. It’s a great fanbase and you need that fanbase to win. I think that’s an attraction. J-Kidd, a Hall of Fame point guard, is your coach. I think all of that helps to attract. It’s not just the Nico Harrison show. But to answer your question, no that won’t affect our ability to attract free agents.”

https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/mavericks/2025/04/15/mavericks-gm-nico-harrison-addresses-luka-doncic-trade-fan-outrage-future-in-dallas/

Nico Harrison on if he feels an obligation to Mavericks fans: "No, my obligations are to the Dallas Mavericks, what's in the best interests of the Dallas Mavericks. That's the most important thing."

https://streamable.com/6hib5b

Tim MacMahon: "Luka was gonna sign the supermax. Why didn't you sign him and then if you really wanted to trade him [...]"
Nico Harrison: "Well there's no guarantee he would sign a supermax"
MacMahon: "He has guaranteed it, he was bawling on the bench"
Nico: "Well like I said, we can agree to disagree"

https://www.youtube.com/live/m9FsmK6Mals?si=kL3t2-LUUSpFyy30

Dallas Mavericks CEO Rick Welts on the Luka trade: "The Golden State Warriors once traded Monta Ellis for Andrew Bogut... They got better because they had a guard named Steph Curry and Steph Curry came in and made the entire fanbase love him."

[VFX]

"Part of my job is to do the best thing for the NBA, not only today, but also in the future, and some of the league's decisions are going to be unpopular. That's my job, and I have to stand by it."

fixed

[UcanUwill]

What else he suppose to say - Oh guys, I really fed up, I was hammered.

[Backcountry]

What else he suppose to say - Oh guys, I really fed up, I was hammered.

Drunk texting will come back to bite you every time!

[bisme37]

Read on Twitter

[picc]

Good. I want Mavs season ticket holders getting weekly reminders of the **** show.

[OldSchoolNoBull]

[sp6r=underrated]

I don't think Nico is stupid but he is unqualified for the job he has. Cuban hired him for connections and didn't build infrastructure around him to make it work.

After Nico who deserves primary blame, Cuban is next.

Welts is just a business guy who works in basketball and is trying to sell the product.

[KnicksGadfly]

Rob Pelinka really did a number on this guy…damn

[Jadoogar]

it's way too early for him to admit his mistake. If he truly was behind the trade, he needs to keep his job so he has to defend the trade till his last breath. Years down the road, i think we'll hear him admit his mistake

[Ryoga Hibiki]

What else he suppose to say - Oh guys, I really fed up, I was hammered.

just don’t be this stupid

[JXL]

Read on Twitter

OMG bro.

This organization is braindead. Seriously.

[strokerace]

I am really hoping we can let the Nico stuff rest soon. It has become tiresome. Anyone that thinks that he made this trade on his own and deserves the blame is out of touch with reality. Blame the new owners.

[Sixers in 4]

What else he suppose to say - Oh guys, I really fed up, I was hammered.

He should say absolutely nothing. The public has already convinced themselves it's a bad trade move on.

Something along the lines of I don't talk about players on other teams. I went into the reasons the trade was made at the time of the deal. Do you have any questions about current Dallas Mavericks.

Every-time a question is asked of Luka repeat I don't talk about players on other teams or look backwards.

[zeebneeb]

Read on Twitter

I've never use(d) that emoji before, but its what I did after I read that, so...

[sp6r=underrated]

Why does Nico love Kyrie if he's obsessed with defense?

Kyrie is a bad defender.

[DusterBuster]

What else he suppose to say - Oh guys, I really fed up, I was hammered.

I mean, honestly, I would respect that answer more lol

[Saints14]

What else he suppose to say - Oh guys, I really fed up, I was hammered.

Yeah, I'm sure everyone would love it if he came out and talked about how much of an idiot he was, but he's just not gonna do that. He deserves all the criticism in the world for the trade but end of year press conferences are supposed to project optimism for the future, however unconvincingly it might be

[Stan]

Drygon fuming he wasn't able to make this thread first.