Nico Harrison Says Mavs 'Jumped' at Chance to Get Anthony Davis in Luka, Lakers Trade

Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison reiterated how improving the team's defense was a major objective behind trading away franchise cornerstone Luka Dončić.

Harrison told reporters Monday the Mavs want defense to be "our calling card," so the franchise "jumped" at the chance to acquire Anthony Davis from the Los Angeles Lakers.

Harrison is nothing if not consistent.

From the moment the Luka trade came together, he leaned on the old adage that defense wins championships. The message remained the same after Dallas posted a losing record (39-43) and failed to advance past the Play-In Tournament.

Harrison also stood by the haul the Mavs received for Dončić.

"If you don't value AD as an All-NBA player, an All-Defensive player, then you're not going to like the trade," he said Monday. "We targeted AD, but if you don't like him, then there's nothing else we get that's going to make you excited."

Granted, those remarks seemed to imply that moving Dončić was a fait accompli or something forced upon the organization.

ESPN's Tim MacMahon filed a new report Monday laying out what became a "frigid dynamic" between Dončić's representatives and Harrison. Staffing decisions made by the front office, most notably dismissing director of health and performance Casey Smith, didn't go down well with the five-time All-Star.

Eventually, Harrison came to the determination Dončić needed to go.

Thanks to earlier reporting, we know what happened from there. Per MacMahon and colleague Ramona Shelburne, Harrison identified Davis as his preferred target and met with Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka in early January to get the wheels in motion.

The early returns have been a disaster.

Even leaving aside the overwhelmingly negative fan reaction, Davis suffered an adductor strain that limited him to nine appearances with the team. Kyrie Irving's torn ACL further clouds Dallas' short-term future.

Harrison knows his job security and overall legacy with the Mavs rest on the Luka trade being a success. That means he has to keep arguing for it on the merits, no matter the outside reaction.

However, continuing to say "defense wins championships" and asserting Dallas got the best return possible, despite not opening the bidding to other teams, will fall on deaf ears right now.