Nico Harrison will no longer be the general manager of the Dallas Mavericks.
The Mavericks are expected to fire Harrison on Tuesday morning, two people familiar with the decision told The Dallas Morning News, after four seasons, one NBA Finals appearance and one franchise-altering trade.
The move came a day after Monday’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Dallas is in the midst of a disappointing 3-8 season and has lost five of its last six games, dimming championship expectations Harrison set.
Mavericks
The Mavericks have handed the task of running the franchise to vice president of basketball operations Michael Finley and assistant general manager Matt Riccardi on an interim basis, according to an ESPN report.
As the majority shareholder in June 2021, Mark Cuban hired Harrison to replace longtime general manager Donnie Nelson. The Mavericks went 182-157 and reached the playoffs three times during Harrison’s tenure, including two Western Conference Finals and an NBA Finals appearance in 2024.
But Harrison will long be remembered as the architect of what’s been called the worst trade in NBA history. His decision last season to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis and Max Christie yielded immediate backlash from fans, whose chants of “Fire Nico” became a universal swan song anytime the Mavericks found themselves in an unfortunate position.
They chanted the phrase in the team’s first home game following the trade. They rallied together and chanted it the first time Doncic returned to American Airlines Center as a member of the Lakers. Nine months later, they’ve chanted it during home games as Harrison sat from his new seats inside the arena, several rows behind the team’s broadcast booth.
Dumont heeded the call this week, but in the aftermath of the trade, the governor was in lockstep with Harrison, telling The Dallas Morning News, “In Nico we trust.”
“You have to respect the track record,” Dumont said. “You have to respect his intellect. You have to respect his relationships and his judgment and his point of view and the way he communicates.”
In that interview, Dumont also said, “When you want to pursue excellence in an organization, you have to make the tough decisions and stand by them and keep going.”
It appears firing Harrison was another decision Dumont felt the team needed to make to return to its pursuit of championships.
A roster once structured around Doncic, one with shot creators and perimeter shooting, is now rooted in size and a defensive-minded frontcourt, with a severe lack of its former strengths.
Even worse, the team’s ability to improve through the draft will be severely limited after the 2026 offseason because the Mavericks don’t have total control over their first-round pick until 2031.
Jason Kidd was the only coach under the leadership of Harrison, who gave the fifth-year Mavericks coach two contract extensions.
The team could consider Riccardi as a candidate to fill the position.
At his final news conference in April to conclude the 2024-25 season, Harrison was asked why he shouldn’t be fired.
“One, I think I’ve done a really good job here,” he said, “and I don’t think I can be judged by the injuries this year. You have to judge the totality from beginning to end. I think I have a really good working relationship with Patrick. I think you add in Rick [Welts], the leadership that we have is really elite. You’ll see next year when our team comes back we’re going to be competing for a championship.”
In the seven months since that comment, the Mavericks aren’t in a position to compete for a title. At this rate, they’re headed for a second consecutive appearance in the NBA draft lottery.
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