February’s trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers is still sending ripple waves across the NBA. This week, the Dallas Mavericks fired Nico Harrison, the man who engineered the trade as their general manager, and it was a move their angry fans had been wanting for months.
While the Mavericks are 3-9 right now, the Lakers are 8-4, and even though they got blown out by the defending world champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, their outlook is still relatively bright. LeBron James seems to be nearing a return after dealing with sciatica over the last several weeks, and the team seems to be gradually building chemistry.
After Wednesday’s game, Luka Doncic was asked about his thoughts on the firing of Harrison.
“Look, I mean, the city of Dallas, fans, players, they’ll all have a special place in my heart. I thought I was gonna stay there forever. But I didn’t. So they’ll always be a special place for me, always I can call it home. But right now, I’m focused on the Lakers, trying to move on. But obviously, always there’s gonna be part of me in there. Just trying to move on and focus on what we’re doing.”
He was then asked if he could ever see himself playing for the Mavericks again, especially since he still has lots of fans in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex.
“Right now I’m just focused on the Lakers. No further comments.”
Doncic will definitely be focused on the Lakers for quite some time, as he signed a three-year, $165 million contract extension over the summer that will run through the 2028-29 season. It is generally expected that he will opt out of it in 2028 in order to sign a longer and more lucrative “supermax” extension with L.A.
Meanwhile, the outlook for Dallas isn’t exactly great. Anthony Davis, whom it acquired in return for Doncic, is dealing with a calf strain and is putting up lower numbers than usual, and rookie phenom Cooper Flagg is slowly adjusting to life in the NBA. The team doesn’t exactly appear to be the dark horse contender some thought it would be.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Luka Doncic was asked if he’d ever return to Mavericks
