The Dallas Mavericks’ decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers remains arguably the biggest story in the NBA nearly three months removed. It’s one of the most confusing trades in sports history as nobody in their right mind would give up a 25-year-old megastar before he reaches his prime. But one former Maverick isn’t totally disagreeing with the notion.
Brendan Haywood, who was a key depth piece on the 2011 Mavs that won the NBA title, looked to be leaving an airport when someone asked him about the already infamous trade, which TMZ posted.
“I think this comes down to what happens next year for the Dallas Mavericks,” Haywood answered. “So, if they’re going to give [Nico Harrison] another year, team gets healthy, what happens with Kyrie [Irving] and they re-sign him, get [Anthony Davis] back. At the end of the day, winning cures all. If they can find a way to win, [Harrison] can survive… Defense wins championships, that’s what Nico talked about, so I see the vision defensively, but I also understand why the fans are upset. Only time will tell.”
Mavericks fans are probably tired of seeing “defense wins championships” and that winning games will fix this mistake because it probably won’t. A lot of Mavs fans would’ve rather played out the next ten years of Luka’s career with no guarantees of a title rather than make this kind of trade, even if it somehow guarantees a championship in the next few years. It’s a fiercely loyal fanbase that loves homegrown talents, something Nico Harrison and Patrick Dumont underestimated when they went through with this trade.
Doncic and the Lakers are currently facing a 3-1 deficit in the first round of the playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the same team Doncic beat to go to the NBA Finals last year with Dallas. The Mavericks are sitting at home after losing in the Play-In Tournament.
