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“Defense wins championships.” That three-word phrase has consistently been Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison's reasoning for trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Doncic's Lakers were defeated by the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-113 in Game 4 of their playoff series on Sunday, however. The defeat led to eye-opening remarks from Kendrick Perkins of ESPN on Monday morning, via ClutchPoints.
“Watching the fourth quarter, the second half, the fourth quarter in particular, I saw what Nico Harrison was talking about,” Perkins said on ESPN First Take. “When it comes down to the reason why he traded Luka. He traded Luka because he felt that the Dallas Mavericks were not going to be able to win a championship with Luka. We all know this.”
Perkins continued to explain why he “didn't feel that way” watching Anthony Edwards in the game. Edwards dropped 43 points in the Timberwolves' victory, and Perkins believes the Minnesota star will “win a championship before Luka Doncic.” Additionally, Perkins called Edwards a “better all-around player” than Doncic.
The Edwards comparison is only a small element of the entire picture here, though. Perkins' comments stemmed from Harrison's words. Was Doncic scrutinized before the trade? Absolutely. His defense and consistent arguing with the referees drew backlash from plenty of media members.
However, Harrison's comments have begun a new type of ridicule. When the Doncic trade initially happened, the general consensus around the NBA was that dealing a 25-year-old (now 26-year-old) superstar away for an injury-prone veteran in Anthony Davis and an unproven young player with promise in Max Christie along with only one first-round pick was nothing short of preposterous.
But Perkins' comments highlight the new ridicule we will see. Some analysts may begin to side with Harrison on the trade.
Luka Doncic will be impacted for the remainder of his NBA career
There will be a time in the future where analysts and potentially even fans start to claim that Harrison's move wasn't all that terrible after all if Luka fails to win a championship. If the Mavericks earn an NBA Finals victory soon, there may be a time where people even say that Dallas won the trade.
It's crazy to think about, but it is possible.
Doncic's defense was far from reliable on Sunday. As a result, the conversation has turned to blasting his defensive performance as opposed to the fact that Luka scored 38 points in an extremely competitive playoff game. JJ Redick's specific coaching decisions are being mentioned, but Doncic's game has become overly-analyzed.
Unless Doncic wins an NBA Finals at some point in his career, he will always be mentioned in the same breath as Harrison's “defense wins championships” comments. Harrison clearly did not believe in Luka and made the decision to move on from one of the NBA's best players. That move alone placed pressure on the guard.
Harrison told reporters that he has not spoken poorly of Doncic since the trade. However, when given an opportunity to call Doncic a championship-caliber player during his end-of-season press conference, Harrison called the question “unfair” and failed to provide a direct answer.
If you combine that with Harrison indirectly calling out Doncic's defense with his strong “defense wins championships” stance, it is becoming clear that the pressure is now on Doncic to prove him wrong. And if he is unable to take care of business in the playoffs, Doncic's reputation in the NBA could be destroyed forever.
Is it fair? No, but that's the result of a general manager trading a superstar in the middle of their prime without true cause aside from doubt in the player's ability to lead a team to a championship win.
