Interestingly, after Doncic and the Lakers were eliminated, Barkley defended Nico, general manager of the Mavericks.

Charles Barkley denied that the trade dispute between Nico Harrison and Luka Doncic was "unfair"

Charles Barkley defended Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison after Luka Doncic and the Lakers were eliminated in the playoffs.

Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison has been ridiculed since trading Luca Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, but Charles Barkley has not. He defended Harrison after Doncic and the Lakers were out of the playoffs Wednesday.

Shortly after the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Lakers in Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs, Barkley criticized Doncic's defense and formation while commending Harrison's defense.

"I want to make this point about the situation in Dallas," Barkley said Thursday morning on the NBA Insider.

"I think a lot of the criticisms against Nico are a bit unfair. Yes, they reached the finals last year with Carey and Luca Doncic, but that team kept playing mediocre until Nico signed PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford and Derek Lefly. That took them to the next level, so Nico performed very well last year. We can talk about the deal this year, but last year - both Luca Doncic and Carey Doncic It's a superstar, but if you look back, you'll find that until Doncic finishes those trades and gets those big players, the Mavericks are at the bottom. At a certain time, you can't sign big players anymore because he (Doncic) doesn't have a good defense. He has to learn to defend and stay in shape."

Doncic's defense and physical condition are reportedly important factors in Harrison's decision to trade Doncic before the February trade deadline. Although Doncic is one of the league's top offensive players, he is often criticized for his poor defense and poor form at the beginning of the season. When healthy, these two factors seem to have little impact on his team, but Doncic has been suffering from soft tissue injuries and will be in better shape when he has strong defensive players around him.

The Lakers encountered this problem in Game 5, with Doncic injured his back in the second half of the first half and was strongly defended by the Timberwolves in the pick-and-roll. However, the biggest problem for the Lakers is Rudy Gobert, who took advantage of the Lakers' lack of height in the middle to win the first 20+20 playoffs in his career.