The seismic effects of the Luka Doncic trade still haven't gone away months after the deal went down.
It's been arguably the biggest narrative in the NBA this year and for good reason, as the Dallas Mavericks shockingly dealt their franchise star to the Los Angeles Lakers for five-time All-Defensive player Anthony Davis because—in the stubborn words of GM Nico Harrison—defense wins championships.
That may not have been the only factor, though. Shortly after the midseason trade back in February, multiple reports came out stating that the Mavs were concerned about Doncic's work ethic and conditioning.
Harrison addressed those reported concerns in an exclusive meeting with members of the Dallas media earlier this week.
"No, Luka's an extremely talented player as we all know, we've all seen," Harrison said, when asked by FOX 4 News' Sam Gannon whether there was any truth to the Doncic conditioning reports. "He's probably dropped the most points when maybe he's not in the best conditioning, so he can do that. That's not an issue.
"When you make a trade like this, you have to really look at it in its totality. It's very thorough. We looked at everything. And again, just felt that it was in the best interest of our team going forward. I keep saying this, but defense wins championships."
So, Dallas wasn't worried about Doncic being out of shape after all. If and when the trade turns sour down the road, Mavs fans will know exactly who to point the finger at.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mavs GM Nico Harrison Bluntly Addressed Reports on Luka Doncic’s Conditioning.
