Report: Nico Harrison Was Determined to Trade Luka to Avoid Mavs Orbiting Doncic

Even though Luka Dončić is generally regarded as one of the five best active players in the NBA and had made the All-NBA first team five times by the age of 25, the Dallas Mavericks seemed to have no interest in him being their franchise player.

Per NBA insider Marc Stein, Mavs general manager Nico Harrison was "determined" to trade Dončić no later than this summer because they didn't want to build a team orbiting around the five-time All-Star:

"Yet naturally now, with a bit of distance from the initial shock, you have begun to hear more of the whispers that the Mavericks had somehow concealed for months. Whispers via league sources suggesting that Dallas' decision-makers, most notably general manager Nico Harrison, no longer wanted Planet Mavericks to orbit around Dončić and had grown determined to trade him by this summer at the latest."

In the immediate aftermath of the trade that sent Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers, it was known the Mavs had "major concerns" about his conditioning issues as he was set to become eligible for a supermax contract this summer.

The Athletic's Christian Clark, Mike Vorkunov and Fred Katz reported on Feb. 17 that Dallas was "never going to offer" Dončić the five-year, $345 million supermax extension, adding credence to the notion he would've been traded in the offseason if the Lakers' deal hadn't come to fruition.

Speaking to ESPN's Tim MacMahon in the aftermath of the trade (h/t ESPN's Dave McMenamin), Harrison said his motivation behind the trade was to build an elite defensive team with Anthony Davis as the focal point that can compete for a title.

"I believe that defense wins championships," Harrison said "I believe that getting an All-Defensive center and an All-NBA player with a defensive mindset gives us a better chance. We're built to win now and in the future."

There's definitely something to the notion that Dončić may not age gracefully. He's only played 70 games in a season twice in his career and has missed at least 12 games in four consecutive seasons, including the 2024-25 campaign.

But the ceiling for a team with Dončić at the center of everything is extremely high. We know this because he just led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals as the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference last season.

Dončić averaged 28.9 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game in 22 starts during the playoffs last season.

Harrison has to hope that his gamble is right because if the Mavs don't win enough in the coming years, his job status is already under an intense microscope for doing this trade.

Even if Harrison had backing from Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont to make the move, things can change in a hurry if the organization begins to struggle.