It was a bad sign when the NBA world, almost unanimously, thought the trade was so absurd that the reporter breaking it had been hacked.
But now, with the Dallas Mavericks firing former general manager Nico Harrison just 11 games into a disastrous start to the 2025-26 season, Harrison has learned a couple of lessons the hard way: the NBA is a star-driven league, and you don’t ship them when you have them.
In many ways, Harrison’s dismissal runs counter to the vision behind the stunning Luka Dončić trade. Point guard Kyrie Irving remains out with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and forward-center Anthony Davis – the centerpiece in the deal – has also been banged up. No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg is the youngest player in the league and has been uneven in his debut. And the player Dallas will select with the 2029 first-round draft pick Harrison was able to get from the Lakers is probably still in middle school.
In a functional organization, once a team decides to move forward with the bold decision to trade the face of its franchise, they owe it to themselves to entrust the architect of the move to see it through – to afford that general manager the patience to execute the vision behind the deal.
But the Mavericks have started the season 3-8 and are second-to-last in the Western Conference. The team is dead last in points per game (107.2). Certainly, team owner Patrick Dumont heard the “Fire Nico” calls that rang out during home games, and he certainly has seen a slimmed-down Dončić dominating for the Lakers.
Firing Harrison, in effect, is the admission of a mistake made.
“This decision reflects our continued commitment to building a championship-caliber organization, one that delivers for our players, our partners, and most importantly, our fans,” Dumont said Tuesday, Nov. 11 in a press release.
The reality is that a trade like this has massive implications for years. Dallas does deserve some credit for not compounding its grave error. But Mavericks ownership – and certainly Harrison – bear the most blame for egregiously parting with a generational player; and by all accounts, ownership signed off on the Dončić deal.
Making matters worse, Dončić turns 27 in February and is entering the prime of his career.
Most times in the NBA when there are power struggles between star players and coaches or star players and executives, the ones lacing shots and zipping passes across the court tend to win. Elite stardom is the premier currency in the NBA. And mismanaging that stardom is the easiest way to fumble away a front office job.
Where do the Mavericks go from here?
The team is undoubtedly in a weaker spot than it was. Flagg is a promising young player, and a first-round pick is always a desirable asset. But that pick being deferred until 2029 won’t quell the angst the fan base has. And even then, the Mavericks can only hope that Flagg or that eventual player pan out to be close to what Dončić has been.
Behind Dončić, the Mavericks made a deep run in the 2024 playoffs, falling just short in an NBA Finals loss against the Celtics. Dončić averaged 29.2 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists across the five games of that series. The prudent move would’ve been to pay Dončić and continue building around him.
Dallas was only a piece or two away. But Harrison was leery of committing a massive max deal to Dončić, especially given some concerns about his conditioning. Instead, Harrison won’t see any of this through.
It will go down as the biggest mistake in Harrison’s career and has the potential to become a textbook case of what teams should not do.
Elite players make plays. They win games. They sell merchandise and put fans in seats. Their highlights get shared on social media. Elite players increase a team’s valuation, and they keep fans happy and engaged, all of which keeps ownership happy and engaged.
Nico Harrison committed the cardinal sin in the modern NBA; failing to recognize that star players win both on and off the floor.
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