In the weeks since Nico Harrison traded Luka Doncic he has stated over and over that these decisions were with the intent to “win now”. Something he apparently felt was not possible with Doncic. Win now meant this season, win now meant in the future, which he defined as the next three years.
Those cards are no longer on the table.
The high-wire act Harrison was attempting in pairing Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis, two aging oft-injured stars together, was a massive gamble. He gathered everyone’s cards at the table and went all-in. Now the house has won — Irving and Davis are both injured along with most of the roster, and the team must focus, somehow, on development. Otherwise Harrison, head coach Jason Kidd, the entire operation may soon learn that the distance from win now to win never are not that far apart.
You can look at everything that has happened the last five weeks and believe this team, now currently without seven of their ten nightly rotation players, has hit an insane streak of bad luck. You can point to the decisions of the front office and say they overlooked red flags left and right with injury concerns and workload and are seeing that ignorance backfire. Or you can look at the accumulation — the backroom dealing, the trades, the endless stream of awful PR moves, the toneless pull quotes — and see a cosmic karmic retribution playing out before our eyes. No matter your perspective what cannot be argued is that the current Dallas Mavericks now must shift gears from their stated goals.
Post trade deadline, the team cannot shift gears entirely. They can’t start trading players for picks or developmental projects. And knowing Harrison’s intent, that wouldn’t happen anyway. But now by necessity the team will have to loosen the reins on players that were mostly on the fringes and give them space to develop.
The player possessing the most potential throughout all this, Max Christie, has shown flashes in a turbulent time. The 22 year-old return in the Doncic deal is averaging 13 points, four rebounds, and three assists while connecting on 39-percent of his threes. He’s displayed a nice package of offensive tools and a willingness to support on the boards from the perimeter. More apparent than anything is he plays with a maturity well beyond his years. Christie has started six of his 13 games in Dallas and has played at least 30 minutes in all but four games. Kidd clearly has found trust in Christie, and now should be willing to put more responsibility on his plate. This is what the now lowered stakes this season affords: giving a chance for a young player to experiment with greater responsibility.
Kidd needs to do the same for second-year forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper, but for different reasons. O-Max has the physical tools to be a switch-heavy, versatile defender who should be able to contribute inside out on offense. Prosper, also 22 years old, spent more time in college and blossomed in his junior season at Marquette. But the translation to the NBA has been tougher for him. While Prosper has already appeared in more games this season (52) than he did all of last season (40), he isn’t fully connecting the dots yet. The last two months has been the Mavericks’ greatest time of need for viable front court players. And though Prosper’s minutes have gone up since the middle of January he’s been confined to a bench role playing behind two-way contract player Kessler Edwards, who turned into the de facto starting center once the injury plague hit. It feels damning that Kidd has turned to Edwards consistently in place of Prosper, and has only shifted at times because of restrictions on the forward’s contract.
I say no more. This is Prosper’s moment to show he can step into larger shoes and more responsibility. Give him that space. Development isn’t linear in the NBA. It won’t go smoothly, and it is entirely possible he shows he is not ready. If so, you learn that and move down a new path. But the Mavericks can no longer afford to be selective with opportunity. Even if some of the starting caliber players return before end of season.
There was a tiny moment, less than a game’s worth, where Kyrie, Davis, and a mostly healthy roster looked like they could navigate the post-Luka era. For now, that doesn’t exist. It is a quick drop from playoff threat to playoff forgotten, and Harrison is facing that reality. So he and Kidd must pivot to making this dark time worthwhile.