It's fair to say that in the immediate aftermath of Saturday night's blockbuster deal that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison may be the most unpopular man in Dallas since J.R. Ewing — Yes, that's a Dallas joke, and yes, that show is well over 30 years old, but let me tell ya, all morning I've been hell-bent on shoehorning in a “Who Shot J.R.” joke into one of these reaction pieces, and I gotta be honest, think I nailed it. 

Anyway, back to the trade… it seems as if nobody in the Lone Star State, or at least Dallas, is happy to see the biggest sports star in Texas be sent to Los Angeles in exchange for a 31-year-old oft-injured big man, a rotational wing and a single future 1st round draft pick. And that includes Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, who has to sit by Nico Harrison's side and put on a brave face as Harrison tries to explain away his rationale for making one of the most surprising trades in professional sports history.

In this nearly minute-long response to a question about whether the Mavericks held trade discussions with any other teams besides Los Angeles, Nico Harrison said a few very interesting things that will surely :

First, Harrison noted that not only were the Lakers the only team that Dallas reached out to, but that the discussions between the two sides began weeks ago in secret with Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka.

“Trades don't happen at the smallest level without stuff getting out. Rob and I were able to have really intense conversations over the course of three or four weeks,” Harrison said, as Mavericks coach Jason Kidd sat by, seemingly just as blindsided as the rest of us were that this trade materialized without anyone in NBA circles having any clue what was happening. And that includes Kidd, who Harrison noted was not involved in any of these trade discussions.

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“We kept it between us. We had to keep it tight. J-Kidd didn't even know about it,” Harrison said. “But J-Kidd and I are aligned, and we talk about archetypes, and we talk about the culture we want to create. So I know the type of players that he likes without actually talking to him.”

You know the type of player Jason Kidd probably likes coaching? The guy he compared to Picasso. The guy he said was the best Maverick ever. The guy he adoringly said, “is the game plan” after a 73-point outburst against the Atlanta Hawks.

But give credit to Kidd because thus far he's been a good soldier, supporting everything that Nico Harrison has said.

“As Nico brought up, we are aligned,” Kidd said on Sunday afternoon, per Brad Townsend of Dallas Morning News. “When you look at the vision of the team and what Nico wants to build, I truly support that.”