Heading into the 2025-26 NBA campaign, the Dallas Mavericks seemingly had a lot to be optimistic about. With rookie Cooper Flagg in the fold and big man Anthony Davis healthy, it appeared very feasible that they would be one of the better teams in the West.
It’s still possible that the Mavericks turn things around, as guard Kyrie Irving has yet to make his season debut, but they’ve gotten off to an incredibly rocky start to the campaign. They’re tied with the New Orleans Pelicans for the worst record in the West at 2-6, and amid their subpar start, people around the league are said to be questioning general manager Nico Harrison’s job security.
“A legitimate question right now is: Is Nico Harrison’s job in serious jeopardy?” ESPN’s Tim MacMahon posed. “That is an absolutely legitimate question. It’s the question obviously Mavericks fans have been hoping would be answered with an affirmative for — since early February.
“I don’t have a firm answer for you right now. That’s as much as I can tell you. But it is absolutely a legitimate question. When you talk to people about the Mavericks around the league, it is the first question that people are asking.”
Of course, Harrison was the general manager behind the highly criticized and controversial move to trade guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers ahead of last season’s deadline.
Part of why that move was so controversial is because of the package the Mavericks got in return. Amazingly, they received just one first-round pick for maybe the most talented player in franchise history, with the centerpiece of the deal being an injury-prone Davis, who’s on the other side of 30.
Poor injury luck has followed Davis into his Mavs stint as well. He’s dealing with a calf strain at the moment and also missed time for Dallas last season.
Another factor that made the move a head-scratcher is that the Mavericks came so close to winning a championship just months before they traded the Slovenian. They reached the 2024 NBA Finals with Doncic as their definitive best player, and that marked their first appearance in the championship series in more than a decade.
Considering the Mavericks’ current less-than-stellar circumstances and the fact that Harrison was an important part of their decision to move on from Doncic, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why his job security is being questioned by some. He may very well be out of a job in Dallas sooner rather than later if the team can’t turn things around.