It’s been over a year since Nico Harrison made one of the most unbelievable trades in NBA history: sending Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for primarily Anthony Davis. Harrison gave his reasons for trading the best player on the Dallas Mavericks team that had made the NBA Finals just a few months prior, but no one bought it. Draymond Green recently defended the trade.
Draymond Green Defends Nico Harrison’s Reasoning for Luka Dončić Trade
In the latest episode of “The Draymond Green Show,” Green called out the media for how strongly they bashed Harrison for trading Dončić.
“So many people crushed Nico Harrison for the reasons that he gave,” Green said. “When Nico gave those reasonings, everybody said, ‘He’s ridiculous, he’s crazy.’…
“Now when I turn on the TV, all I see is media, who crushed Nico which essentially aided in him getting fired, regurgitating the same things that Nico Harrison was saying, and I struggle with that because I haven’t seen one person come out and say ‘Hey Nico, I’m sorry for the things I said about you when you made those moves because I just said the same things out of my mouth.’”
Green made it clear that his sentiment had little to do with Dončić himself and more to do with the backlash Harrison faced after many have recently criticized the Lakers star for the same reason Harrison traded him.
“This has nothing to do with Luka Dončić and everything to do with the media and Nico Harrison. Nico gave his reasonings as why he thought that was the right move. Everybody said, ‘You’re a (expletive) idiot. You should be fired. Worst General Manager in NBA history.’ And now, all of you people are saying the same thing, but no one has said maybe Nico was right.”
Draymond Green calls out the media for having a double standard with Nico Harrison for trading Luka because he didn’t believe in some of his habits 👀
“So many people crushed Nico for the reasons that he gave. When Nico gave those reasons everybody said he’s ridiculous, he’s… pic.twitter.com/IM5N9q9iyW
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) February 27, 2026
To Green’s credit, the criticism Dončić has been getting is very similar to what Harrison said when he rationalized the deal. There’s a fair argument that he may have been ahead of the curve on Dončić’s defensive shortcomings and bailed before it got worse.
However, people are not giving Harrison credit because of what he got in return for Dončić. That still very much remains a complete disaster. Davis is an older, lesser player who played very little in Dallas. Max Christie is a perfectly fine rotation player, and they only got one of the Lakers’ picks.
For that reason, no one will give Harrison credit for doing what he did. He may have been justified in giving up on Dončić, as his weak defense and his struggles to stay in shape are legitimate problems that could have doomed Dallas. However, because the Mavericks got an impressively low value for him, this deal will still remain infamous.
It would stand out even more if they hadn’t won the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes.
