The last nine months have been incredibly rough for Mavs Nation. Nico Harrison traded away Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis; a move led the Mavericks’ general manager to become public enemy #1. He had hoped that getting lucky in drafting Cooper Flagg to their cause would offer some solace but following a disappointing 3-8 start to the season, the organization has decided to fire Harrison. Analyst, Stephen A. Smith believes it was inevitable.
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The team’s ownership, led by Patrick Dumont gave Harrison the benefit of the doubt to fulfil his vision further after trading Doncic off for Davis. Unfortunately, Davis, who already has had a history of injuries, has barely played for the Mavs. To make matters worse, star player Kyrie Irving suffered an ACL injury and remains unavailable.
Consequently, rumors began to spread regarding Harrison’s job security over the past couple of days. Now that the news has become official, fans and analysts are asserting that it was bound to happen.
“At the end of the day, you traded Luka Doncic,” Smith said on ESPN’s First Take. “If you trade Luka Doncic, you can’t be 3-8 on the season… While Luka Doncic is averaging 40 [points].”
Harrison has been fairly quiet regarding the trade in the past few months. However, the stories about Doncic being let go due to his poor conditioning hasn’t gone down well. The Slovenian superstar has dropped 30 lbs and seems pretty durable so far for the Lakers, while Davis has embodied every worry the team seemingly had with Doncic.
If Davis were playing up to his expectations, the situation would be much more manageable. Instead, the 10-time All-Star has only appeared in 5 games, while averaging 20.8 points and 10.2 rebounds.
A player of Davis’ caliber should be doing much better, especially considering who he replaced on the squad. Doncic was not only a huge star in the NBA, he is only 25 and was supposed to carry the Mavs for at least a decade. The Slovenian star, by his own admission was a Mavs lifer.
“[Doncic] was your guy and never wanted to leave. And you pushed him out the door. It’s unforgivable in a lot of people’s eyes, and that’s why Nico Harrison is gone,” Smith proclaimed.
On the bright side, there is still light at the end of the tunnel for the Mavericks. Irving will return, and then we’ll get a clear analysis of this group. If the team continues to slide, the next person in charge will have their hands full with cleaning up Harrison’s mess.
