The Dallas Mavericks are still recovering from the aftershocks of the trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. While the Lakers have since secured the third seed in the Western Conference, the Mavericks will have to win two play-in games just to get a chance to match up with the 68-win Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round.

Recently, general manager Nico Harrison–who has become one of the most infamous figures in sports history as of late–thought it would be a good idea to give a press conference to some members of the Dallas media, albeit with no cameras allowed.

During this press conference, Mavericks CEO Rick Welts made a shocking comparison to explain his rationale for trading Doncic, comparing it to when the Golden State Warriors traded Monta Ellis for Andrew Bogut in 2012, per Tim Cato of All City (via Mavs Film Room on X).

Needless to say, fans on X weren't thrilled with the comparison.

“Unbelievably out of touch,” wrote one user.

“The Mavs FO are like a 0.1% minority on this take,” wrote another, responding to a post from ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel on the shocking quote.

“This gets crazier and crazier every day,” added another fan.

A wild comparison

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Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) moves the ball against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The difference between what the Warriors did and what the Mavericks did, of course, was that Golden State had their franchise cornerstone in Stephen Curry waiting in the wings when they traded Ellis, whereas Doncic was the Mavericks' own franchise cornerstone.

That's not to minimize the talents of Kyrie Irving, who recently helped guide Dallas to the NBA Finals, or Anthony Davis, who is certainly more talented than Andrew Bogut was in 2012 (or anytime, for that matter).

Still, the Warriors made a trade to help better restructure the roster around their centerpiece, while the Mavericks traded the centerpiece himself.

Unfortunately for Dallas fans, Nico Harrison and the rest of the Mavericks' brass don't seem to see things that way.

The Mavericks will take the court for the play-in game on Wednesday night in Sacramento against the Kings.