As general manager of the Dallas Mavericks, Nico Harrison has just potentially facilitated one of the biggest, if not the biggest trade in NBA history.
The trade consisted of sending current franchise icon Luka Dončić, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first round pick. This trade will forever be embedded within a franchise that seemed to be on the right track.
They’ve done a similar strategy of building around a powerhouse offensive player in the past. During their 2011 season, the Mavericks built their entire roster around superstar Dirk Nowitzki, with Jason Kidd specifically picked up for his specialty in assists to help with Nowitzki.
Whilst Nowitzki had Dončić beat in height, and generally had a more complete roster, the premise was the same. Dončić also had a roster built around him to help supplement his aggressive offensive play, with the Mavericks trading for Kyrie Irving in the 2022-2023 season to help on offense. Additionally trading for P.J. Washington for similar offense and defensive help.
The Mavericks had their roster set up for repeated success, with a finals appearance during the 2023-2024 season. However, with Luka now gone, I see no real success on the horizon for the Mavericks.
Shifting the focus to the man who facilitated the trade, Nico Harrison has been showing signs of incompetence for well over a decade at this point. Harrison was previously an executive at Nike before his position as general manager.
Whilst executive, Harrison was responsible for completely botching a partnership with rising star Steph Curry, causing Curry to leave Nike in favor of Under Armour later that year. While it may seem completely out of left field, I think it is worth mentioning his past errors to show that he’s no stranger to completely ruining situations and deals.
In short, Harrison as the general manager of the Mavericks has let his franchise player walk, in exchange for someone who may not be able to patch the hole Dončić left. I may be wrong, and Harrison may be a genius for pulling the trigger on arguably the greatest trade in NBA history, but as of Feb 5, 2025, the future looks bleak in Dallas.
