J.J. Redick gives unexpected support to Nico Harrison

Less than a week after the Lakers’ season ended, Luka Doncic’s conditioning is again under question

On February 2^nd, Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison pulled off a shocking trade in the middle of the night, swapping Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis. The move was so surprising and unexpected that many who reported on it had to assure fans their social media accounts were not hacked and the deal was real. The trade was plainly inexplicable to most observers, at least until Harrison let the public in on his rationale. The GM espoused a “defense wins championships” mantra, but the widespread rumors that he and the organization viewed Doncic’s conditioning as problematic were undeniable. It got to the point where Doncic was asked specifically about it, with his response prompting a question to Harrison regarding the matter.

Although Harrison has tried to reverse that narrative when he declares, “I’ve actually never spoken ill of Luka at all,” it remains a difficult genie to put back in the bottle, particularly when his other comments appear to have a double meaning. Sam Gannon of Dallas’ Fox 4 recently asked Harrison about his feelings toward Doncic’s conditioning and received this response:

On the surface is an outright compliment and acknowledgement of Doncic’s talent, however, it is wrapped in what seems to be a not-so-subtle qualifier as he states “[Luka]’s probably dropped the most points when maybe he’s not in the best conditioning.” For a guy who scored 30 or more points in half of his games played this season, scoring the most while being unfit seems to imply he is perpetually unfit.

Whatever the case, Harrison may now have company in the not-so-subtle department when it comes to Doncic. ESPN’s “First Take” dedicated thirteen minutes of a recent episode to dissecting comments made by Lakers’ coach J.J. Redick. Redick’s “mind goes immediately” to the work required “to be in championship shape.” He continues, “certainly there are individuals that were in phenomenal shape, there’s certainly other ones that could have been in better shape.”

To be clear, nowhere did Redick mention Doncic’s name, but it’s difficult to imagine many (if any) other players on the Lakers he could have been speaking of. Factor in this topic being the most important focus for LA this Offseason, it is not a stretch that it applies to arguably their most important player.

Dallas fans are no strangers to this type of talk since well before the trade took place, but hearing Doncic’s new head coach make comments like this suddenly shines new light on Harrison’s way of thinking. Many would contend the trade was ill conceived regardless, but this perception of Doncic is now proliferating in ways it never had prior to this season. Harrison’s reputation may be so badly damaged that no one will give him the credit for being correct, even if he is ultimately proven to be just that. Still, for the first time since the trade, he seems to have outside support. The ramifications of the trade will likely play out over many, many seasons to come and will be redefined accordingly. We will have to see if this is the first-and-only, or first-of-many times Harrison gains some measure of credibility for the almost universally panned trade.