The Dallas Mavericks are definitely heading in a downward spiral after making the NBA Finals last season and missing the playoffs this season. Trading Luka Doncic was definitely a key factor in it, and GM Nico Harrison is still catching all the heat.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon was one of the leading voices when it came to calling out Harrison, as he spoke on the The Right Time podcast about how Harrison did not need to trade Doncic.
“The Luka [Doncic] trade was not process oriented. It was emotional, it was irrational, and I can tell you for sure it was illogical, because I pressed Nico [Harrison] on very flawed logic in the deal, and all he can say is ‘defense wins championships’”, MacMahon stated.
MacMahon also pointed out that Harrison said he built a championship caliber team, yet they made the Finals the year before, meaning they already had one.
MacMahon also stated that one of the main reasons Doncic was traded was because of his poor conditioning, but he isn’t one of the league’s top high maintenance players.
“I’m not gonna tell you Luka’s low maintenance, I’m just gonna tell you on the superstar spectrum in the NBA, he’s not toward the top. You can go down the list of superstars, there are several who are more high maintenance than Luka. Ask Miami [Heat] if they’d have rather dealt with Luka or Jimmy Butler for the last few months,” MacMahon said.
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MacMahon concluded with the fact he was told by the Mavs front office they would trade if they had to, but they really didn’t.
“I was told, ‘we’ll trade this guy if we have to’, but here’s the thing; you didn’t have to,” MacMahon noted.
It really seems like the Mavs didn’t need to trade Doncic, as with him they were heading to the playoffs once again. Now, they’re a Play-In team that can’t stay healthy, with little future ahead of them.
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