Nico Harrison is done with the Dallas Mavericks. It’s just a matter of when

Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison made himself available to the rest of us lovable lame stream media scum on Monday, April 21, and there were four questions I asked about his decision to trade Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis.

Question: “Did the anger and outrage from the fan base exceed what you were planning for?”

Nico Harrison: “I did know that Luka was important to the fan base. I didn’t quite know it to what level.”

Translation: Nope.

Question: “Were you told by team owner Patrick Dumont to trade Luka Doncic to avoid paying him the NBA’s super-max contract?”

Nico Harrison: “No. Not at all. Patrick reminds me of the leadership that I had at Nike. A really good leader doesn’t tell the people that work for them what to do. It’s a collective, well-thought out process to make a big move like that.

“Then also, unfortunately, I’m super stubborn, so someone telling me to do something doesn’t work too well for me.”

Translation No. 1: This was my idea, and if wasn’t approved I was going to fight my boss over it.

Or …

Translation No. 2: That’s absolutely true, but I want this seven-figure salary job so I’m going to lie through my skull.

Question: “There has been considerable speculation, and reports, that you and Luka and his ‘team’ could not get along; he wanted it to do it his way, and you wanted him to do it your way. True or not?”

Harrison: “No. I worked at Nike for 20 years. There are superstars, they have teams around them and you have to cater to them and that’s part of the job. They’ve earned it. … I can work with anybody.”

Translation: Potential free agents who want to sign here need to know they can do whatever they want.

Question: “What do you say to any critic of this trade that you didn’t get enough in return?”

Harrison: “I think the biggest thing is if you don’t value AD as an All-NBA player and All-Defensive player, then you’re not going to like the trade. We targeted AD, but if you don’t like him then there is nothing else that we could get that would make you excited about the trade.”

Translation: I should have insisted on getting Austin Reaves.

Harrison spoke at the Mavericks practice facility in a civil discourse with the media about all of it. He did on Monday, April 21 what he should have done on Friday, Feb. 7. The latter date would have been the first time the team was home after Harrison traded Doncic to the L.A. Lakers on Feb. 1.

For Mavericks fans who can’t get over it, the person you blame for making your fandom of this franchise no longer possible has approximately one year to prove to his boss if he should remain in the job.

For a lot of people, the chant of “Fire Nico” is not some sing-along joke at sporting events all over DFW but a demand. Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont is not apt to fire Nico today, but the GM has been around long enough to know that he’s not only expendable, culpable, and the ideal candidate to be blamed for everything.

Harrison has years left on his contract, but for planning purposes he has one.

Other than, “I quit,” there is nothing he can say to satiate the millions who think he committed a top two all-time terrible sports trade; his only prayer to remain in this job beyond next season is his injury-prone roster advances to the Western Conference finals.

By the time the 2026 NBA playoffs begin, Dumont will have owned the Mavericks for 2 1/2 years. He inherited Harrison, head coach Jason Kidd and nearly everyone else on this staff after he purchased the franchise from Mark Cuban.

When Dumont bought the Mavericks, he owned that he knew nothing about owning an NBA team; a pro sports franchise functions dramatically different than your standard business.

By the time the 2026 NBA playoffs begin, Dumont will have attended several league meetings, and met dozens of executive types whom he will be able to converse whenever he wants. He will start to have his own ideas, and people he likes.

Dumont is still new to owning an NBA team, but he’s not new to being wealthy and the possibility that it creates, specifically the opportunity to hire and fire with the ease of a text. Dumont gave his GM the keys to his new business, and he will just as easily take them away.

Professional sports team owners are notoriously fickle beings, and a six figure check doesn’t often deter them from impulsive decisions, which puts Harrison in this position.

Dumont has been made to look like a fool, and right now he’s aligned with his GM because to fire Harrison today would be an acknowledgment that he blew it.

Team president Rick Welts has announced that the Mavericks want a new arena in Dallas. No major sports facility in Texas has been built without the help of public funding.

Welts and the Mavs can’t ask for forgiveness without being cursed out; publicly lobbying for a penny from a tax payer right now will met with not “Hell no” but multiple middle fingers.

According to multiple team employees who have worked for the Mavericks for more than 10 years, and spoke on background, morale within the organization has never been worse. “Selling” the Mavs right now is not possible.

We are fast approaching three complete months since the Mavericks traded Doncic, and not only has the anger and hurt from this deal not faded it’s growing louder. What Harrison did on Monday was long over due, and while he was respectful in the face of challenging questions, he brought all of his on himself.

What we learned on Monday is that Harrison believes by trading for AD the team will win big, which will quiet the “Fire Nico” chants.

We also learned that he now understands how important Doncic is to this fan base.

CNN NEWS

Nico Harrison is done with the Dallas Mavericks. It’s just a matter of when | Opinion

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