Well, there was electricity in the Dallas Sports World this past Saturday night. I guess Nico Harrison didn't want to get stood up by Jim Nill and his brilliant fleece of the San Jose Sharks. Before we delve deeper into the article, I want to say that Nico Harrison has my full respect. I'm not trying to say Harrison is a bad GM at all. However, when you trade one of the best generational players because of how much he weighed, it's a pretty sad reason to. Jim Nill was the victor of the two trades last Saturday night.
It all began Saturday morning when Nill woke all the Stars' fans with a vast trade. He traded for Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci for their first-round draft pick and a conditional fourth-round pick. When fans saw on Twitter that the Stars were making a trade, it was like, which prized prospect are we giving up for both players? Nill surprised everyone and kept all the young talent he had drafted. Talk about taking candy from a baby. The Sharks got fleeced by the two-time General Manager of the Year Award winner.
Nico Harrison decided he didn't want to get shown up and traded Luka Doncic, Markieff Morris, and Maxi Kleber around midnight on Saturday. Everyone thought all the basketball writers got hacked based on seeing Luka's name in a trade tweet. It was like a gut punch to all the Maverick fans who finally got their Luka Jerseys for Christmas. There was even a memorial outside Victory Plaza on Sunday afternoon. It was one of those wow moments you would have never expected to see.
Nill is the winner of both trades because he didn't give up any young talent to the Sharks to acquire those two players. It's fantastic that Nill could keep Mavrik Bourque and Lian Bichsel. I wish that could be on his resume if he ends up being a finalist for the General Manager of the Year Award again. There's a reason why the Stars are still a top team in the league despite having injuries over the year. I wished all Dallas Sports GMs could be like Nill and Chris Young.
Nico Harrison is in the middle of a PR Nightmare right now as he tries to explain his reasoning for trading a five-time All-NBA First Team caliber player for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a first-round draft pick four years from now. He was the face of the franchise and filled the seats at the American Airlines Center. Now, he has season ticket holders wanting to cancel their remaining home game tickets after trading Doncic away. That's not what Jim Nill intended to do to the Stars franchise.
I'll wrap up the article with this. Sean Shapiro and the DLLS Sports Stars crew discussed why people love Jim Nill. It's for this one special reason: He wants to leave the franchise in good shape after retiring from general manager. He won't make a blockbuster trade of epic proportions if it means it will hinder the Stars after he leaves. Jim Nill is genuinely a one-of-a-kind GM and deserves a massive send-off from the fanbase whenever he decides it's time to leave the Stars for retirement.
After a crazy weekend, @seanshapiro explains exactly why Dallas Stars fans should be extra thankful for Jim Nill #TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/2KgsVpZ2A5
— DLLS Stars (@DLLS_Stars) February 4, 2025