The more we learn about the Luka Dončić trade, the more unfathomable the entire deal becomes. It’s completely shattered the organization from top to bottom. Details continue to release as more reporting comes to light and Nico Harrison continues to do interviews about it despite how long ago the trade went down.
On Tuesday, we got a bit more detail from ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith that will almost certainly make this even more painful for Mavericks fans.
On First Take,Smith said he’d been told that it was actually Harrison who went to Mavericks’ ownership to convince them that trading Dončić was the right choice. It wasn’t a deal that the team’s owners were exactly calling for when it happened.
“Over the last week, I’ve received several phone calls where I’ve been told Nico made that trade. He went to management and said, ‘This is what I want to do.’ It wasn’t management coming to him saying ‘We don’t want to pay Luka $345 million,” Smith said. “It was Nico who went to them and said I want to trade Luka Dončić.”
That’s a very interesting and specific distinction being made there from Smith.
There had been speculation that the Mavericks’ new ownership, led by Patrick Dumont, had reservations about paying Dončić a full max contract worth somewhere around $345 million. What Smith is saying here is that Harrison led the charge and that ownership actually seemed willing to move Doncic.
I’d take this with a grain of salt, honestly. We don’t know who Smith’s sources are here, but chances are they’re carrying a lot of weight for the Mavericks’ ownership team. This feels like an attempt from ownership to separate itself from Harrison, who is public enemy No. 1 for Mavs fans at this point. Considering that the team’s owners reportedly pushed Harrison to hold a private press event to discuss the trade again last week, it makes sense.
But Harrison didn’t make this move alone. It ultimately had to be approved by ownership, no matter how hard Harrison may have pushed for it to happen. It doesn’t happen unless there’s sign-off from the organization’s ultimate decision-makers in the Dumont family.
So maybe what Smith is saying is true. Maybe Harrison did push hard for this to happen and, ultimately, things go down the way they do. That doesn’t absolve Patrick Dumont and company from any guilt here whatsoever.
Mavs fans should be upset with everyone from top to bottom in the organization.
