Tuesday afternoon at the American Airlines Center felt less like a standard media availability and more like a scene out of a political thriller. There was no podium, no bank of TV cameras, no choreographed backdrop covered in corporate sponsors. 

Instead, Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison sat at a makeshift roundtable inside a closed‑door conference room, flanked by CEO Rick Welts and a handful of carefully vetted Dallas beat writers. Recording devices were initially banned — an eyebrow‑raising rule — only for their PR team to reverse course minutes before Harrison spoke.

If the Mavericks hoped to project transparency, the optics did them no favors. Tim Cato of D Magazine called the setup “bizarre,” noting the gap between the front office’s we‑want‑to‑be‑clear messaging and the cloak‑and‑dagger vibe of the whole affair. 

Harrison hadn’t really faced the music about the Luka trade until this meeting — just a day before a win-or-go-home play-in game, no less. Fans had spent the last couple of months letting him have it: booing at home games, spamming #FireNico everywhere online, even holding up signs calling for his job in front of cameras. So when the press finally got the chance to ask him face-to-face, they didn’t waste time dancing around it.

Well, the beauty of Dallas is it is a passionate fan base. For us to reach our goals, we need that passion. Some of the decisions we make are going to feel unpopular. That’s the job.

On the day before the Mavericks’ season quite literally hung in the balance, Harrison was here to convince everyone — media, fans, and maybe even himself — that shaking the league’s foundation was, in fact, a responsible move.

“No Regrets” Echoes in the Room

If there was any chance Harrison was about to admit some regret, Harrison shut it down inside the first three minutes.

There’s no regrets on the trade. Part of my job is doing what’s best for the Mavericks today and tomorrow. Some of those moves will never be universally loved, and I have to wear that.

He said it quite a few times — no regrets. After a while, it stopped feeling like a genuine answer and started sounding like a line he’d practiced. Harrison, known for his player‑relations background at Nike, now came off more like a corporate exec trying to sell a plan that not many people were buying.

He reminded reporters that every splash he’s made has invited skepticism. Fans weren’t exactly sold when the Mavs first brought in Kyrie Irving, and there wasn’t much excitement when they traded a few extra wings to get Daniel Gafford and rookie Dereck Lively II either. “People crushed those,” Harrison said. “Yet we played in June with that core.” Of course, that core’s biggest piece isn’t part of the equation anymore.

Not only that, but you swapped out a 26‑year‑old, four‑time scoring champ for a 31‑year‑old Anthony Davis — even if AD brings a resume with rings and All‑Defensive nods. You don’t trade away Luka Doncic without upsetting a fanbase that’s been riding with this team for decades.

Part of it is doing the best thing for the Mavs. And we believe we did exactly that.

Because let’s be real — there’s just no way anyone can look at this trade and say it makes the Mavericks better long-term when you traded for an older player with less talent. (No offense to AD, who's great — but not Luka.) You plug Kyrie back into this group, and they’re not jumping from the 10 seed to a top contender. Without Luka facilitating and carrying the scoring load, this team’s not going to be able to keep up with the big guns offensively. 

AD can do a lot, but he’s not creating shots for others. Klay’s not the same guy he was. And asking Kyrie to be both a primary scorer and playmaker for 82 games? That’s asking for trouble. Luka covered up a lot of flaws, and now those flaws are front and center.

The Gospel of Defense

If you only pulled one quote from the presser, make it the new franchise motto:

Defense wins championships.
—Nico Harrison, approximately 11 different times

That line became Harrison’s north star. Each time a reporter asked, “But why risk Luka’s all‑world offense?” he pointed to defense like it was an emergency fire exit. When pressed on the timing — "Why overhaul after reaching the Finals two seasons ago?" — he circled right back: “I keep saying the same thing, but defense wins championships.”

He’s not wrong in theory. Eight of the last ten NBA champions ranked top‑seven in defensive rating; that’s not a coincidence. And last year’s Mavs, for all Luka’s nightly 33‑10‑9 sorcery, finished 18th in that metric. Harrison saw a ceiling and decided to smash it.

But a lot of people pushed back on that whole defense narrative, and for good reason. Defense wasn’t what held Dallas back during their Finals run. The real issue showed up whenever teams threw traps at Luka or wore him down late in games — everything just came to a halt. The offense completely dried up because no one else could consistently take pressure off him. They didn’t have a second guy who could create for others, and that’s not something you fix just by adding better defenders. Trading the engine to fix the axle feels, at best, counterintuitive.

Harrison’s rebuttal was simple: You haven’t seen this group healthy. 

You guys saw it for about two and a half quarters. Small sample size, sure — but that was a dominant defensive team.

It’s a pitch built more on projection than proof, and that’s why the fan anger won’t disappear overnight. And let’s be honest — two and a half quarters of good defense isn’t enough to hang your whole plan on. A few flashes don’t mean much when the guy who used to carry you through cold stretches is now in a different jersey.

All In on AD

Harrison’s relationship with Anthony Davis dates back to his Nike days, when he brokered shoe deals and built trust with elite athletes. So when front offices began sniffing around Lakers ownership about a potential Luke‑for‑AD blockbuster, Harrison’s phone was already warm.

We targeted AD from the start. We needed a two‑way cornerstone who embodies that defense‑first mentality. Anthony checks every box.

In fairness, a locked‑in Davis is the kind of rim‑protecting, switch‑defending monster GM’s dream about. He grades out in the 95th percentile as a pick‑and‑roll defender, and when the Lakers won the 2020 title in the bubble, Davis might have been the best two‑way player on the planet.

Still, the concern is durability. Over the past five seasons, Davis has missed 35 percent of available games. He’s spectacular when upright, but Mavericks fans know all too well how fragile big‑man optimism can be (see: Kristaps Porzingis).

Harrison brushed off the concern like it wasn’t even worth discussing:

We got what we wanted. Everything else is noise.

Addressing the Elephant in the Arena

When the topic shifted back to fans, Harrison and Welts both acknowledged they’re operating without a safety net. Welts tried to show he understood where Mavs fans were coming from: 

We hear them. It’s on us to win back their trust. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a segment of our base that feels alienated. We get that.

He name‑dropped the Lenny Wilkens* to Cleveland* saga, then brought up how Warriors fans were furious back when Golden State traded Monta Ellis for Andrew Bogut — a move that eventually helped launch the Curry era. 

But comparing that to the Luka deal didn’t exactly sit right. That trade was about clearing the way for a rising superstar. This one? It sent Dallas’ superstar packing. 

Just a few weeks ago, Jason Kidd compared the move to trading away Babe Ruth. And now you’ve got the CEO comparing it to Monta Ellis? Come on. That’s not just a stretch — it’s borderline insulting.

Harrison knows banners change hearts quicker than PR statements, but even he admitted that rings alone might not be enough to fix everything.

I do believe that once we win, the fans will come back. I also know some wounds run deeper than wins and losses.

The Timeline Tightrope 

Of all the back‑and‑forth, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon delivered the day’s sharpest cross‑examination.

MacMahon: “27 to '30, you're out on your first round capital. [In] your own words, you created a three to four-year time frame. When the credit card bill comes due, that time frame is over. How is that in the best interest of long term interests of the franchise?”

Harrison: “Like I said, we believe in the move we made. You obviously don't, and that's fine, and you're entitled to your opinions, but we're excited about the future of our team.”

Harrison’s response came off as incredibly defensive — and that’s being generous. This wasn’t some throwaway media prompt; it was a real, valid concern that plenty of Mavs fans have been asking since the day the trade went down. Tim MacMahon laid it out clearly: How can you say this move was about the long-term best interest of the team when you’ve gutted your draft capital for years to come? 

Instead of offering a real explanation, Harrison sidestepped it and basically dismissed the question altogether. And when a GM dodges a direct question like that, especially one this important, it starts to feel like maybe there isn’t a good answer.

History is littered with teams who mortgaged tomorrow and woke up title‑less (hello, 2013 & 2021 Nets). Harrison tries to frame the trade as a calculated risk, not some spur-of-the-moment decision. He says he wouldn’t have moved Luka if he didn’t truly believe this current roster could compete for a title. 

But based on how defensive he got in the face of fair questions, it’s hard not to wonder if even he’s fully convinced. Fans aren’t asking for a perfect five-year plan — they just want to know why their franchise player got shipped out without a clear path to being better now or later. And if this current framework is really built to win banners, it sure doesn’t look like it yet.

Loyalty, Leadership, and a Whole Lot Left Unsaid

If you’re looking for irrefutable proof the Mavericks are rebranding, consider this: Dirk Nowitzki — face of the franchise, statue in front of the arena, living symbol of loyalty — wasn’t consulted. Reports say the Hall of Famer is unhappy. Harrison didn’t deny it.

Nobody really knew about this trade. It was very hush hush. And you can’t look for advice from people who aren’t in the building every day, they don’t know what the team’s going through.

It was blunt, maybe too blunt, but it underscores Harrison’s determination to steer without a rear‑view mirror. He did temper it with a line about respecting Dirk and hoping he stays involved, but the message was clear: Harrison was the only one with a seat at the negotiation table.

Kyrie Irving, meanwhile, is rehabbing from knee surgery. Harrison called it “clean” and predicted a full return by training camp, adding that Irving’s locker‑room leadership “kept our head above water” when bodies started dropping.

And then there was the self‑reflection. Harrison said he and Welts have looked back at how they broke the news — first to Luka, then to season-ticket holders, then to the media — and wondered if they should’ve handled it differently.

Yeah, there’s always learnings. But at the end of the day, it was going to hurt no matter how you wrapped it.

Betting the House on Defense

There’s no way around it — this was a huge gamble. Harrison gave up the best offensive player the team’s ever had and is now banking on Anthony Davis staying healthy and Kyrie Irving holding things together. That’s a risky setup for any team, let alone one trying to stay in the playoff mix. There’s just not a lot of wiggle room if things go sideways.

Will it work? Honestly, it’s incredibly unlikely. For this trade to actually pay off, it’s not just about the Mavs winning — it’s about them winning more than they would have with Luka. And that’s a brutal bar to clear, especially now that Luka’s out in L.A. on a much bigger stage, with more help and more spotlight. 

That’s what the front office signed up for. Harrison clearly believes the Mavs had hit their ceiling with Luka, but from the outside looking in, it feels like they just threw away their best chance at contention.

For now, the story is far from finished, the pain is real, and the biggest question still hovers over the facility like a championship banner waiting to be raised:

What’s the actual path forward here, and does anyone truly believe it’s better than what they just gave up?