At no point in the process of the Luka Doncic trade negotiations did Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison feel the need to talk to anyone else about the move. Therein lies the core problem. Because everyone else would’ve told him to get serious before blowing up the franchise’s entire future for no good reason.
Take head coach Jason Kidd, for example.
Kidd was unaware that Harrison was shopping Doncic. Harrison reportedly had nearly a month of dialogue with Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka about the move. Not once did he tell the coach he thinks he’s aligned with about what was in the works behind the scenes.
During a press conference on Sunday, Harrison explained how the Doncic trade manifested. He said that he simply had to keep it a secret between himself and Pelinka. Otherwise, the Mavericks’ dirty laundry with their star player would’ve been aired out in public.
Buddy, that’s not a bad thing!
If everyone else had found out the Mavericks were trying to trade Doncic, they might have saved Harrison from making arguably the worst mistake he’ll ever make as a front-office executive. It’s mind-boggling that Harrison didn’t consider that Pelinka was not an impartial party in these proceedings. Beyond even shopping Doncic around the league for bigger and better trade offers, it would’ve been great to hear other perspectives, too.
Judging by Kidd’s clearly displeased and startled reaction while listening to Harrison talk, he likely would’ve been the one to stop the general manager from destroying the Dallas franchise in the first place:
Nico Harrison just said Jason Kidd didn't know about the Luka Doncic trade while Jason Kidd is sitting right next to him pic.twitter.com/4Q0q8C78SL
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) February 2, 2025
Man, does Harrison not hear himself talk here?
He didn’t tell Kidd about trading a top-three NBA player in advance, but he thinks that’s OK because he knows they’re “aligned” as general manager and coach. Talk about denial over the earth-shattering move you just made.
I can tell you one thing with great confidence. Harrison and Kidd might have been aligned on their vision for the Mavericks franchise at one point.
That is almost certainly no longer the case after this Doncic fiasco. Harrison probably just lost Kidd for good.
