Mavs GM Nico Harrison has no regrets about Luka Doncic trade - ESPN

DALLAS — Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison doubled down on his mantra of «defense wins championships,» repeatedly using that cliché as an explanation for his decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Lakers, a shocking blockbuster deal that outraged the Dallas fan base and has prompted frequent chants for Harrison's firing.

Harrison, along with new Mavs CEO Rick Welts, held an hour-long session Tuesday morning with a select group of Dallas-based media in which the trade of Doncic, 26, for a package headlined by 32-year-old perennial All-Star power forward Anthony Davis dominated the discussion.

«There's no regrets on the trade,» said Harrison, whose only other media availability since the trade was a brief pregame session the following day in Cleveland. «Part of my job is to do the best thing for the Mavericks, not only today, but also in the future, and some of the decisions I'm going to make are going to be unpopular. That's my job and I have to stand by it.»

Harrison made the deal only months after Doncic led Dallas to the NBA Finals following a series of trades to construct a contender around the franchise player. Harrison referred to those deals — including trades for Kyrie Irving, Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington — when asked about Dallas' fans widespread desire for him to be fired.

«Well, the beauty of Dallas is it is a passionate fan base,» Harrison said. «For us to reach our goals, we need that fan base. And to be honest with you, every trade I've made since I've been here has not been regarded as a good trade, and so sometimes it takes time. When I traded for Kyrie, it was met with a lot of skepticism and it was graded as a terrible trade and you didn't see it right away, but eventually everyone agreed that