Nico Harrison’s firing was the necessary first step, but getting the Dallas Mavericks back to where it was before he torpedoed it all with that Luka Doncic trade will take many years.
The currency for any sports fan is hope. You watch every game, your emotions go through a roller coaster, you enjoy the wins and suffer the losses but the hope is that one day it will all be worth it when you team wins the championship.
For some, the wait will be long. Years and years with no light at the end of the tunnel.
For others, the horizon is clear. You feel that there’s a window of opportunity and that your team will get that title in the next two to three years. You just need everything to finally come together.
This was the feeling for the Dallas Mavericks after the 2024 NBA Finals, a series they lost to Boston Celtics.
The front office was on fire. They made tremendous decisions that quickened the build around Luka Doncic.
Getting Kyrie Irving was risky but well worth it. Trading for Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington gave them pieces that played their roles perfectly.
Dallas fans felt like they were one or two moves away from having enough to win it all.
Then it all fell apart.
By the following year, general manager Nico Harrison traded Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package that centered around Anthony Davis.
Everyone said that Dallas could have gotten so much more and that they should have talked to more teams, who would have given them multiple first-rounders to help them build again.
But Harrison doubled down. The reason was a mix of questions surrounding the conditioning of Doncic or his ability to play defense.
Even the owners chimed in, saying Doncic did not have the work ethic of the greats.
Few believed them but they stuck to their guns.
“Time will tell if I’m right,” said Harrison, as fans shouted in their own homecourt that he should be fired.
Irving’s injury was brutal. Davis’ inability to stay on the floor was frustrating. From a finalist in 2024, they fell in the Play-In Tournament in 2025.
They lucked out in getting Cooper Flagg that gave the fans some hope but this new season started out tragically for the Mavs. Davis has played a grand total of 14 games for Dallas. Nine last season and five in the current one. They were good when Davis was available, but he has not played enough games to matter.
I have to admit it was weird watching Dallas this season. It was like I couldn’t be happy, whatever the result of the game was. When they lost, it was frustrating because it was more often than not ugly. But it felt like the losses were steps towards the inevitable firing of Harrison. When they won, part of me was happy to see development, but it also meant Harrison might stick around longer than expected.
Now at 3-9 and near the bottom of the the standings, there was no other recourse for Dallas but to restart and there’s no beginning again without letting go of Harrison.
The fans needed a head as an offering, and Harrison’s was served up in a platter.
The problem now is that the Mavs were fleeced by the Lakers in the trade; they can’t even do too much with the upcoming drafts. They have their own pick in 2026, none in 2027, and a pick swap in Oklahoma’s favor in 2028. They have 10 outgoing draft picks through 2031, six second rounders and four first round pick swaps all not in their favor.
The salary situation is also problematic. They have another year of Klay Thompson for $17-million. For 2027-28, they have $140-million locked up by Davis, Irving, Gafford, and Washington, with the latter two players signed through 2029 and 2030, respectively.
Harrison’s firing was the necessary first step, but getting the franchise back to where it was before he torpedoed it all will take many years. Couple that with the fact that the trust in their current team owners isn’t rock solid yet, as the feeling is that Harrison would not have pulled off such a massive trade without the team owners’ clear blessing.
But for me, I think I’ll enjoy watching Dallas games a little bit more now, even the tough losses, as there’s no more risk of me wanting to throw my remote at the TV when Harrison appears on screen. I will just have to accept that the team I cheer for pulled off the worst trade in sports history.
But I take solace in the fact that Harrison will never be able to wash that stain of his name.