Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison has no regrets over trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February.

Harrison sanctioned the move for the five-time NBA All-Star for a package that included Anthony Davis coming the other way in a move that angered Mavericks fans.

But on Tuesday, he doubled down on his decision to move Doncic on, claiming that NBA championships were won by defences rather than offences.

"There's no regrets on the trade," said Harrison, as quoted by ESPN.

"Part of my job is to do the best thing for the Mavericks, not only today, but also in the future, and some of the decisions I'm going to make are going to be unpopular. That's my job, and I have to stand by it."

Doncic's trade came just months after he had helped the Mavericks reach the NBA finals, with Harrison having brought in Kyrie Irving, Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington to create a team around the Slovenian.

From one No. 1 pick to another…

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"Well, the beauty of Dallas is it is a passionate fan base," he said. "For us to reach our goals, we need that fan base. And to be honest with you, every trade I've made since I've been here has not been regarded as a good trade, and so sometimes it takes time.

"When I traded for Kyrie, it was met with a lot of scepticism and it was graded as a terrible trade and you didn't see it right away, but eventually everyone agreed that that was a great trade.

"When I traded for [Gafford] and [Washington] again, it was like, 'Oh, he gave up way too much. These guys aren't going to help us.' Now that trade, you saw the evidence a lot sooner. So I think a lot of times trades take a little bit of time.

"But our philosophy, like I said, going forward is defence wins championships and we're built on defence. And this trade cements us for that.

"I'll say this again: Defence wins championships."

The Mavericks had the top-ranked defence in the final 20 games of last season, though were beaten to the championship by the Boston Celtics.