It’s been nearly three months since the blockbuster trade sent Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers and Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks. Nico Harrison has been eviscerated for the knee-jerk move with more jokes probably still stowed away. Now that the initial shock has died down, it’s time to truly dive into this.
I’m not here to defend Harrison because it was a bone-headed move. But maybe we give this time to unfold before we immediately say it was a terrible move. I don’t agree with the return he got for Dončić. I don’t even agree with giving up on him either, but that decision is clearly well above my pay grade.
This will need a couple of years before we got back and re-grade this trade. A lot has to happen. I’m not optimistic that two years later, we’re going to apologize to Harrison. But there’s a chance it might just work out, possibly for both teams.
What if Davis defies odds with a healthy next two seasons, Kyrie Irving comes back and the two carry Dallas to their first ring since 2011? Likely, no. But if it does happen, maybe Harrison can be absolved of the criticism he faced.
Only one thing can determine who ultimately won the Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis trade: A championship
The only thing that will determine the true winner of the trade is whoever wins a championship. It doesn’t even have to be the first team to win one. Because if both the Lakers and Mavericks win a championship, it could turn out to be one of the most balanced trades in a while.
Harrison saw value in Davis and saw him as the missing piece. If the Mavericks win a championship, it was worth all the scrutiny. The Lakers obviously have a longer window with Dončić being younger.
But a championship for both would mean Harrison got what he ultimately wanted and Rob Pelinka got what he wanted. Though a championship won’t wash away the pain Mavs fans had seeing the news of Dončić leaving Dallas. He was supposed to be the one to win the championship in Dallas, not Davis.
It could at least be some solace for a fan base that needs anything to go right. The way the season ended after the trade deadline for the Mavs showed they didn’t make the right decision in trading Dončić away.
If they don’t win a championship, not only would prove to be an egregious mistake, but the fact that they didn’t get enough return to even begin to build a contender would prove Harrison was truly clueless when he made the decision.