Nico Harrison will go down in history as one of the worst general managers in Dallas Mavericks history. He was the man who traded Luka Dončić, a move that made the community and fan base furious. From the moment the trade happened, fans were chanting “Fire Nico” at every Mavs home game. Eventually, the situation got out of hand, and the owner had to step in. Harrison is now out of Dallas, and the franchise hopes to turn its fortune around. Weeks after his firing, we are finally getting the juicy details about what was happening inside the organization.
Nico Harrison Reveals the Real Reason Mavs Had to Trade Luka
Per the latest report by ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, Harrison believed that the previous management, led by Mark Cuban, made several costly mistakes. Those mistakes sent the franchise into a downward spiral, forcing Harrison to make aggressive moves to stay competitive.
According to the report, Harrison blames Cuban for losing important players and trading for players the team didn’t need. MacMahon writes that Harrison believed Cuban was responsible for the two biggest mistakes of his tenure, both made during the summer of 2022.
The first was allowing Jalen Brunson to leave in free agency and failing to secure a new contract with him. The second was trading for Christian Wood, a player head coach Jason Kidd didn’t want and ultimately didn’t play much.
The Mavs traded four players and a future first-round pick for Wood. The Houston Rockets made the deal to clear playing time for their younger big men (like Alperen Sengun), while the Mavs wanted a productive big man to pair with Luka. After just one year in Dallas, Wood left and signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, but his career has been in a downward spiral ever since.
How Two Moves Ruined the Mavericks
The year before those moves, the Mavericks won 52 games and finished fourth in the Western Conference. They reached the Conference Finals on the strength of Luka’s brilliance and Brunson’s breakout playoff performance.
The Mavs believed they could keep Brunson, but he ultimately didn’t feel appreciated by their offer. He signed with the New York Knicks, where he became one of the best players in the league. Meanwhile, Dallas spent the 2022-23 season struggling to find a reliable second option alongside Luka Dončić. They eventually traded for Kyrie Irving, but it was too late. He played only 20 games in Dallas, and the team finished the season 38-44, good for 11th in the West. Wood started 17 of the 67 games he played, but he was never an impactful player.
The following season, the Mavs tried to recover and traded for P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford to pair them with Luka. The result was a trip to the NBA Finals.
The question many fans in Dallas are still asking is why Nico Harrison chose to trade Luka, especially after successfully building a Finals-caliber roster around him. Did he feel pressured to win immediately? When he made the trade, his first comments were that the team needed a win-now player to pair with Kyrie and the rest of the roster. But his vision never materialized due to injuries.
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