Editor's Note: The working title was: Go Ahead and Fire Nico Tyron Harrison Now
A month ago, we lambasted Dallas Maverick's GM Nico Harrison for trading team cornerstone Luka Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis.
Nico Harrison's Foolish Bet (Part I)
Nico Harrison's Foolish Bet (Part II)
Editor's Note II: Full disclosure, we are disgruntled Cleveland Fans.
We didn't have any loyalty to Luka Doncic, per se. And we thought that Anthony Davis was a fine player...in 2019. Our whole premise as for the trade being terrible was the concept of building the Mavs around Kyrie Irving. And, again, not 2016 Kyrie Irving, but 2025 Kyrie Irving.
This is a direct quote from our own February 6th article: "So let me get this straight. Nico Harrison thinks the oft-injured, 32-year-old Kyrie Irving, the oft-injured 31-year-old Anthony Davis (who has averaged 50 games a year over the past 5 years), and the oft-injured 34-year-old Klay Thompson (who missed 2.5 years straight due to injury in 2020) is going to win him a championship?"
So what happened to the Mavericks? Anthony Davis played one game....
Wait a second...
!!!ONE GAME!!!
...and then was injured and hasn't played since. That was over a month ago.
Two weeks ago, Kyrie blew out his ACL and is done for the rest of this season, and probably most of next season. There is a very real possibility that Irving won't play another basketball game until he is 34 years old.
Listen, between you and me, Irving's career is over. He may hobble around for a few more years, but the Baskeball Kyrie that you know is done. Here's Irving's injury history:
Kyrie is just the tip of the injury iceberg for the Mavs. To top everything off for Harrison, earlier this week, the Mavs almost ran out of players.
Yes, you read that right. I will let ESPN break it down more tactically: "The injury-ravaged Mavericks entered the game with only nine available players, three of whom suffered injuries (last) Sunday afternoon, including two on the same play when Edwards and center Dwight Powell collided heads while chasing a rebound....The Mavericks can't add any reinforcements despite having an open roster spot --- because they are only $51,000 below the salary cap's first apron and cannot exceed that threshold. A 10-day contract pays $119,972."
You know who holds the purse-strings for the Mavericks? That would be General Manager Nico Harrison. They can't field enough players? Also the fault of the General Manager.
Nico Harrison is getting so much hate in Dallas, Mark Cuban, who was initially silent about the trade, was forced to publicly defend Harrison.
Kind of.
From NBC's Dallas affiliate: "Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison has come under heavy criticism after sending Doncic to the Lakers in a shocking three-team deal on Feb. 1 that sent Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round draft pick to Dallas.
'If the Mavs are going to trade Luka, that’s one thing,' Cuban told WFAA TV in Dallas. 'Just get a better deal. No disrespect to Anthony Davis, but I still firmly believe if we had gotten four unprotected No. 1s and Anthony Davis and Max Christie, this would be a different conversation.'”
Uh, that is a scathing indictment of Nico Harrison. Basically Cuban is saying that the Mavericks were three....
Wait a second....
!!!THREE!!!
....first round draft picks short of getting a fair deal.
The Lakers, on the other hand, are 13-6 since the trade, and, other than the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Lakers are the betting favorites to come out of the Western Conference and play for the NBA Championship.
The trade was so bad, rumors continue to circulate that the Mavs are tanking on purpose so they can move to Vegas. I tend to agree with this Redditor:
Nico Harrison traded Luka Doncic because he didn't want to give him a SuperMax Contract. If this was Harrison's Idea, he will be fired next season.
But I want to be clear, in any profession, the only person you have to make happy is your boss.
If Patrick Dumont didn't want to give Doncic that contract, that means Harrison is taking a LOT of bullets for the new owner.
If you live in Dallas, and Harrison still has a job next year, you need to direct your ire toward the owner.
As soon as Cuban was forced to comment, you knew that the angry mob was going to get somebody and Cuban didn't want it to be him. (He is still a minority owner.)
As much as I don't like Nico Harrison, I am leaning toward thinking that Patrick Dumont wanted to do a complete scrape and rebuild of the Mavericks, but didn't want to look unpopular in the process. Why am I shifting gears on blame?
Because Nico Harrison really can't be that stupid...
Can he?
Wait a second.....
!!!CAN HE???
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