Former NBA star Gary Payton defended Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison on the Luka Dončić trade. After stunning the NBA world by deciding to trade away Dončić in return for Anthony Davis, Harrison was subject to an incredible amount of scrutiny from the NBA community.
Although Harrison received very little support from every corner, he has remained committed to his stance that trading away Dončić was the right move for the franchise to contend for an NBA championship.
Since the Mavs were unable to qualify for the playoffs and appear to have taken a significant step back compared to where they were last season, Harrison has not been spared by fans. However, Payton came to his defense during a recent podcast called “Club 520” alongside another former star, Jeff Teague.
After Mark Cuban sold his majority stake in the Mavericks, Miriam Adelson and her son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, became the organization’s owners. Although there is no real reason to believe that they initiated the trade for Dončić, Payton opined that Harrison was simply the scapegoat for this decision made by upper management.
“I feel for Nico, man. Nico was my rep at Nike—that’s like a little brother to me. He always looked up to me like that. So I feel for him because of what he took, you know what I’m saying? People don’t understand—he’s the president and general manager. He can’t make those calls on his own. An owner has to make that call. He can’t just say, ‘I’ll make the call.’ Because he was going to get fired….”
Payton continued, “So all you fans out there blaming him like that… get up out of here with that. It wasn’t his call to make that decision. He made a decision based on what he was told to do—what was supposed to be done—and that’s what they did.”
Although the owners expressed their disapproval towards Harrison’s decision publicly, the fact that he has not been fired or punished for making this questionable trade probably gives Payton’s stance some legitimacy.
After all, there is no denying that any other GM who made a move of this nature would have been fired the second the Mavericks’ season came to an end. Since Payton knew Harrison from his previous relationship with Nike, the former NBA star came to the defense of the Mavs GM and even called out fans who were attacking him in the process.
In any case, the majority of the NBA world continues to believe that Harrison was the one who initiated this trade idea and took it to the owners, who simply approved of his judgment and decision-making. Only time will tell if Harrison and the Mavs made the right call by deciding to trade away Dončić.
