Mavericks’ front office ranked one of the worst in the NBA

Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison doesn't have many fans around the NBA, outside of Los Angeles. He made two disastrous trades in February, sending Luka Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, who ended up playing only 9 regular-season games for Dallas, and sending Quentin Grimes to the Philadelphia 76ers for Caleb Martin.

Those trades turned a team that went to the NBA Finals a year ago into a lottery team, where they somehow won the first overall pick to draft Cooper Flagg. If not for that luck, this team would have one of the bleakest futures in the NBA.

Jul 10, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) looks on in the first quarter of the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images | Candice Ward-Imagn Images

Sam Quinn of CBS Sports recently released his ranking of the front offices in the NBA, placing the Dallas Mavericks 26th, ahead of only the Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, Chicago Bulls, and New Orleans Pelicans. That is not a great company to be in.

"As we covered with the Spurs, you do not get credit for luck. If anything, Dallas should be admonished for the irresponsible manner in which it landed Cooper Flagg. I'm not even talking about the historically idiotic Luka Dončić trade. That much was a given.

"I'm talking about the ridiculous choice to rush an injured Anthony Davis back onto the court when the team had nothing to play for beyond a play-in berth. If they'd been smart, especially in light of their disastrous recent medical history, they would have been cautious with Davis, tanked down the stretch and focused on next year. They didn't make a conscious choice to try to improve their lottery odds as San Antonio did when it traded Murray ahead of Wembanyama's draft year.

"They actively went the other way and fought for a No. 10 seed they shouldn't have wanted. Then, a fluke 1.8% outcome occurs and Nico Harrison is claiming that fortune favors the bold? No. In this case, it favored the stupid. The far likelier consequence of that choice was Davis suffering an injury that could have lingered into this season. They're lucky that the injury he suffered against the Grizzlies in the Play-In Tournament was minor. They've been lucky in a lot of ways lately.

"And what have they done with that luck? This roster still makes almost no sense. While Kyrie Irving is out -- and he's implied there's a chance it will be for the whole season -- there's really only one player on the team who can break defenses down off the dribble. Relying on D'Angelo Russell has rarely gone well for previous employers.

"You know who might be helpful on this front right now? Quentin Grimes, who immediately blossomed into a high-level starter the moment Harrison traded him. Regardless of Anthony Davis' preference, he's playing out of position if he's primarily a power forward, and Flagg likely is too as a small forward. Size is generally a good thing. The Mavericks have too much of it."

Quinn went in even more depth than this, saying Nico Harrison's defining characteristic is "obstinacy," and says that if landing Cooper Flagg still doesn't work, Harrison could go down as the worst general manager of all time.

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