Nico Harrison's embarrassing press conference did nothing to ease Mavs fans' worries

The first public media availability for Nico Harrison did not go well.

Jan 3, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Portland Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin (left) and Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison (right) before the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Portland Trail Blazers at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Nico Harrison, the general manager of the Dallas Mavericks, pulled off the most shocking trade in NBA history on Saturday night/Sunday morning, keeping everyone in the dark as Luka Doncic was sent to the Los Angeles Lakers for a minimal package that included Anthony Davis. Any time a player as beloved by a city as Luka Doncic is in Dallas is traded, someone will have questions to answer. Nico Harrison tried to do that in a press conference before Sunday's road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

He failed, spectacularly.

As soon as he sat down with Jason Kidd, he tried to make a joke about not usually seeing this many people in a media room for a pre-game press conference (can be viewed in this WFAA livestream), getting awkward laughter out of Kidd and himself.

READ MORE: BREAKING: Luka Doncic shockingly traded to the Lakers for Anthony Davis

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic celebrates after making a basket against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the first quarter at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Harrison tried to frame this trade as an alignment of visions between himself and Kidd, wanting to create a certain kind of culture. "The players that we're bringing in, we believe, exemplify that [culture]. Defense wins championships, and we're bringing in one of the best two-way players in the league. A lot of people don't talk about what [Anthony Davis] does defensively and offensively, but if you guys can name a First-Team All-NBA players that are also First-Team Defensive players, that's a unique unicorn to try to find, and we were able to find that." He also believes Max Christie can fit into this "culture" well.

When later asked to clarify the "culture" and if Doncic no longer fit that, Harrison danced around it. "One thing about me, I'm not going to talk bad about any players, like that's not going to do us or me any good. I'll just say there's levels to it. There's people that fit the culture and there's people that come in and add to the culture. And those are two distinct things. And I believe the people that are coming in are adding to the culture."

Harrison also tried to say he was getting out in front of potentially losing Doncic in free agency. "There's some unique things about [Doncic's] contract that we had to pay attention to. There's other teams that were loading up that he was going to be able to decide and make his own decision at some point about whether he wants to be here or not. Whether we want to supermax him or not. Whether he wants to opt out. So, I think we had to take all of that into consideration, and I feel like we got out in front of what could've been a tumultuous summer."

That would be a potential point if Luka Doncic had shown at any point that he wanted out. But he loved the city of Dallas. He loved being the heir to Dirk Nowitzki. Dallas had adopted him as one of his own. Marc Stein reported that Doncic never asked for a trade, and Harrison even confirmed that later when asked if he ever got any indication from Doncic or his representation that he might ask out. "No, not at all. Nothing verbally that would believe me to believe that [he would opt out]." But then followed it up with that they weren't concerned about offering Doncic the supermax extension, but whether or not he'd take it.

Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd looks on during the first quarter at against the Denver Nuggets the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Harrison also confirmed he never had discussions with any team other than the LA Lakers, saying, "No, and I'd like to give Rob Pelinka a lot of credit. Trades don't happen at the smallest level without stuff getting out, and Rob and I were able to have really intense conversations over the course of three or four weeks that started out as a coffee that was more, 'Hey, would you ever?'... It built upon that, and we kept it between us... J-Kidd didn't know about it, but J-Kidd and I are aligned... I felt good about it making sense to where we're trying to go."

His closing words, when asked about how this helps the future, "The future to me is 3-4 years from now. The future 10 years from now, they'll probably bury me and J-[Kidd] by then. Or we'll bury ourselves (insert awkward laugh here)."

And then he walked out. Like he should've before this trade was ever even considered.

For what it's worth, Jason Kidd didn't say a whole lot while Harrison was in the room. It mainly looked like he was trying to be a "yes man," trying to save face. He was just reaffirming what Harrison was saying about defense winning championships, but they were on the brink of a championship just eight months ago and added pieces around Luka Doncic to help put them over the top.

This was an embarrassing showing of a press conference from top to bottom. Mavericks fans were already upset at the trade, and this did nothing to help.

READ MORE: Los Angeles Lakers GM thought Mavericks were joking with initial Luka Doncic offer

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