The Dallas Mavericks were in the NBA Finals in 2024. The team got there mainly on the back of their young superstar Luka Doncic.

Then, in the barely disputed worst trade in NBA history, the Mavericks traded Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for oft-injured Anthony Davis.

Mavericks fans are not over the trade that happened over a month ago, and I don’t believe they will get over it any time soon. You just don’t trade a 26-year-old superstar in his prime less than a year after he took your team to the Finals.

But Nico Harrison did, and he has to get used to the “Fire Nico” chants every night. The fans are not going to forgive him for this trade.

Why Did He do it?

We will never truly know the answer to that question. It would be like the Los Angels Dodgers trading Shohei Ohtani for Tommy Pham.

No offense to Tommy Pham, but he is not Ohtani. There had to be some kind of reason that the NBA wanted this to happen.

There is no other way to explain it. After the Red Sox traded (technically sold) Babe Ruth, the immediate aftermath in Boston was disastrous for the Red Sox. Without Ruth, they slid into decades of mediocrity, failing to win another World Series for 86 years. This infamous drought became known as “The Curse of the Bambino”, a superstition that the Red Sox were cursed for selling the greatest player in baseball history.

History tells us that this trade will go down as one of the worst in NBA history. Maybe the worst. Time will tell.

I can think of no reason that this trade was a good idea, and many fans have tuned out because of it.

The Result So Far

Injuries started happening immediately after Doncic was traded. They lost Anthony Davis for a time, Kyree Irving for the season, and several other major injuries.

Even so, the Mavericks made the play in tournament with a losing record. They are lacking any real contenting talent. I imagine their last game will be the play in game.

Meanwhile the Lakers are thriving with Luka on their roster, like the Yankees did with Babe Ruth. Dallas fans can only shake their heads and try and figure out what Harrison was thinking when he made the trade.

We have a long way to go to find out if this trade starts a long series of losing for Dallas. If it lasts as long as the Red Sox curse, I won’t be here to see the end of it.

Life always boils down to making decisions, good or bad. Both can be life changing, or in this case franchise changing.

I believe that the Mavericks will live to regret their decision to trade Luka Doncic. Fans already do, sportswriters were confused, and casual NBA fans thought it was a joke.

Even if the Mavericks win it all in the next 2 or 3 years (not likely), I don’t believe fans will ever forgive Nico Harrison.