Nico Harrison’s belief in Mavs offense is latest in long line of fireable offenses

Everyone with any sort of basketball knowledge knew the decision to trade Luka Doncic was bad on a basketball level, from an asset management standpoint, and in terms of understanding a fanbase. Dallas Mavericks fans were understandably upset at the trade at the time. Doncic was the torchbearer of Dirk Nowitzki, was beloved by the city, and never saw himself leaving. Unfortunately, Nico Harrison apparently doesn't have basketball knowledge.

Trading that kind of player away is painful enough. Watching the Mavericks bash him on the way out made it worse. Getting Anthony Davis on the wrong side of 30 and on a bad contract, Max Christie, and just one first-round pick for someone who was 25 years old and had made five All-NBA First Teams in his first six seasons exacerbated it. Thinking that taking an otherworldly playmaker off a team that relied on his playmaking, and replacing it with someone who needs to be set up on every possession, made it the worst trade in NBA history.

And then, for some reason, the Mavericks rolled into the season with largely the same roster. Kyrie Irving tore his ACL in March, so everyone knew there was a gaping hole at point guard. Their initial solution was to sign D'Angelo Russell, a one-time former All-Star, coming off the worst season in his career, and gave him a player option for his second season. They also drafted Cooper Flagg first overall after lucking out in the lottery, but they decided to stick him at point guard.

Oct 22, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison before the game against the San Antonio Spurs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Those were the only changes they made to the roster this offseason. A need for playmaking? Let's re-sign Dante Exum, who played just 20 games last season. A need for three-point shooting? Let's play four people out of position in the starting lineup to really muck up the spacing.

Two games into the season, a very small sample size, and it's looking like an unmitigated disaster. Nico Harrison said he traded Doncic for Davis in an effort to "win now." Since that trade, the Mavericks are 14-23. They just made the NBA Finals 16 months ago.

Two games into the season, they've been outscored 242-199 by the San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards, who went a combined 52-112 last season. The Wizards were the second-worst team in the NBA last season, and they looked in control of the game for the majority of it.

Two games into the season, the Mavericks have a combined 43 assists to 37 turnovers, have shot 19/55 (34.5%, which feels high) from three, and are barely shooting above 40% from the floor. Their shot quality against the Spurs was the worst from the organization in seven seasons. They have by far the worst offensive rating in the NBA at 95.2; the next lowest is the Atlanta Hawks at 107. There is no one to create a reliable offense. The difference between Dallas and Atlanta is the same as the difference between Atlanta and the Portland Trail Blazers, who have the 6th-best offensive rating so far.

Two games into the season, fans are already chanting "Fire Nico" again. There were murmurs of it in the first game against San Antonio, with a fan being ejected near the end of the game. They were out in full force at the end of the Wizards game with no one to hush them this time.

“Fire Nico” chant starts as the Win Now Mavs are losing to the Wizards. pic.twitter.com/v4ls6U5Gi7
— Nick Angstadt (@NickVanExit) October 25, 2025

Could I be overreacting to two games? Possibly, but the offense looked bad after the trade last year due to all the injuries, and looked as bad in the preseason. I am fully aware that Kyrie Irving not being there is a huge difference, but Irving has always been best as the secondary playmaking operator. He won a championship with LeBron James and went to another NBA Finals with Luka Doncic. He's an electric scorer and playmaker, but setting others up isn't his strongest suit.

Luka Doncic is, at worst, a top-four player in the NBA and is arguably the greatest one-man offense that the game has ever seen. Through two games, he has 92 points, 23 rebounds, and 17 assists. It's the most points any Lakers player has ever scored through the first two games of a season. And swapping him out for Davis on the current Mavs roster would make it a nearly perfect roster.

It's incredible that Nico Harrison hasn't been fired by now. His entire job was saved by landing Cooper Flagg, which he said fans are starting to "see the vision" to a complete luck of the draw. And even that isn't working. Defense doesn't win championships if the offense is so bad that it can't score on the Washington Wizards.

An Update on Another Nico Harrison Disaster

Nico Harrison's decision to trade Luka Doncic was the worst in NBA history. And then he followed it up with a trade a few days later that would've been the worst of the season if not for the Doncic trade, and it got swept under the rug.

Harrison initially traded Quentin Grimes and a 2025 second-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers for Caleb Martin. After a physical was done on physical and they determined his hip injury was going to hold him out longer than expected, they went back and got a 2030 second-round pick instead of canceling the trade or removing the second-round pick they gave Philly. That 2025 pick was Philly's own at a point where they were already trying to tank because of injuries to Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Jared McCain.

Apr 1, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Quentin Grimes (5) during the second half against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images

That pick became the 35th overall selection. Dallas ended up not having a second-round pick, and while second-round picks are overvalued, it could've been nice to have another cost-controlled asset.

Part of the reason for trading Grimes was that he was set to be a restricted free agent, and the two sides couldn't come to terms on a deal before the season. However, if Harrison were smart, he would've realized restricted free agents had no leverage when it came time to negotiate their deals. Grimes was one of four players who had extended negotiations this summer for their restricted free agency, along with Cam Thomas, Jonathan Kuminga, and Josh Giddey.

Kuminga accepted a short-term deal to get him back into free agency next year, possibly, Giddey settled for a deal below what he wanted, and Grimes and Thomas both accepted the qualifying offers to enter unrestricted free agency next year.

While it could've been costly to lose Grimes for nothing in free agency, having that freed-up space would've been better than being on the books for Caleb Martin's $28 million over the next three seasons, and he can't even break into the rotation. They'd have to attach picks to get off his contract after getting rid of two valuable assets to get him. It would sure be nice to have a guard in the backcourt who averaged 21.9 PPG while shooting 37.3% from three and playing good defense, which is what Grimes did after being traded last season.

This team is so poorly run. The fanbase deserves better than Nico Harrison making the decisions. If they're lucky, they'll lose enough for Harrison to be fired and can land another top pick next year, because next year's draft is loaded.

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