3 Decisions That Doomed The Mavericks NBA Playoff Hopes

The Dallas Mavericks will not be participating in the NBA Playoffs for the second year in a row. The final games of the Play-In Tournament will be tonight, but then, the playoffs start on Saturday. It's a great time of year, but the Mavs have fumbled nearly every possible chance to get there.

While we could point out a dozen reasons why the Mavericks aren't in the playoffs this year, here are the three that stand out the most.

1. Hiring Nico Harrison to Begin With

Oct 6, 2025; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison looks on before the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Dickie's Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Realistically, this list could've just been three different mistakes made by former general manager Nico Harrison, but that would've been lazy and insufficient. While I can't promise that some other reasons listed below won't somehow be related to Nico Harrison, here are the ones he directly caused.

-Firing the head athletic trainer, Casey Smith, years ago
-Trading Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis and Max Christie in 2025, relying on Davis to be healthy
-Trading Quentin Grimes for Caleb Martin
-Signing D'Angelo Russell to be the stopgap point guard for Kyrie Irving's injury, who had to be salary-dumped despite having a player option worth less than $6 million for next season
-Waiving Olivier-Maxence Prosper to sign Dante Exum, who never played a game this season, essentially wasting a roster spot and future money
-Building a perfect roster for Luka Doncic, so trading the person that made it work made everything else not work
-Thinking he was safe in the arena for home games, but "Fire Nico" chants rained throughout the AAC, impacting the mood of the team to the point where they preferred playing on the road

There are plenty of other reasons. We could make a list 100 long. He deserved to be fired the second he mentioned trading Luka Doncic to Patrick Dumont, but Dumont was clueless and didn't know what he was doing.

2. Trading Anthony Davis

Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) sits on the bench after suffering an injury ' — Dec 25, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) sits on the bench after suffering an injury during the second quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Trading Anthony Davis was the correct move. To take two steps forward, sometimes you have to take a step back. That's what the Mavs did when they traded Davis, Jaden Hardy, D'Angelo Russell, and Dante Exum to the Washington Wizards for Khris Middleton, Marvin Bagley III, Tyus Jones, and AJ Johnson, as well as 5 total draft picks. More than anything, this trade was about financial flexibility moving forward, because they had none previously.

The Mavericks were never going to make the playoffs even without trading Anthony Davis, but doing so further decreased their odds. It was a necessary step to take.

3. Cooper Flagg Starting the Season at Point Guard

Apr 5, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) controls the ball against the Los Angeles Lakers during the first quarter at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Cooper Flagg playing point guard was great for his development and it made his numbers look good. It did not help the Mavs win games early on. The Mavericks really didn't have any other options, but they did play better when he had a point guard playing with him. In the first 7 games of the season, in which Flagg started as the point guard, they went just 2-5 with a loss to the Washington Wizards, posting horrific offensive numbers.

Dallas never really had the right spacing around Flagg to make it work. Without an elite playmaker generating open shots for everyone else with his gravity, it shrinks the floor considerably. Teams were prepared for that. Next season should be better. Flagg will be playing a lot of minutes with Kyrie Irving, who has to be respected from all levels of the floor, even when he doesn't have the ball. That should help tremendously.

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