Mavericks' biggest offseason problem may already be locked in thanks to Nico Harrison

As the Dallas Mavericks enter their second game of the in-season NBA Cup versus the LA Clippers tonight, they are merely just trying to right the ship and get back to playing some winning basketball. At 3-9, Dallas' season is hanging in the balance, with playoff hopes already seeming fringe thanks to recently fired Nico Harrison, and he may have recently set up a disaster this summer for the Mavericks before his exit.

Harrison opted to give D'Angelo Russell a two-year $11.6 million deal at the beginning of free agency following Kyrie Irving working with Dallas to structure his contract in a fashion that allowed the Mavericks to access the Taxpayer's MLE to sign Russell, but this deal features a player option in the second season. Russell will likely opt in to that player option based on his current performance so far this season, and that is not a great sign for Dallas.

Mavericks fans were lauding Russell's contract as a prove-it deal before the season started, as he had every reason to try and play for what could be the last solid contract he gets in the league. At 29 years old, most longer tenured NBA players typically reach the pinnacle of their prime around 28-30, but Russell's decline from last season with the Brooklyn Nets has only grown steeper since being in a Mavericks uniform.

Dallas unfortunately seems stuck with D'Angelo Russell

Overall, Russell is averaging 10.9 points and 4.8 assists per game off 36.8/26.7/70.7 shooting splits, averaging only 20.6 minutes per game. Brandon Williams has completely eclipsed Russell in Dallas' point guard rotation, as he earned the starting job after a rough three-game stretch for Russell when he was starting, and Russell didn't even get a starting nod until the eighth game of the season.

Part of this can be accredited to head coach Jason Kidd wanting to see if Cooper Flagg had the ball handling and playmaking chops to be a point guard from day one, but the more games where Russell's time on the floor is flooded with ill-advised turnovers and poor shot selection, the more increasingly evident it is Kidd may have started Flagg because he simply didn't trust Russell early on.

Russell has always been a polarizing player because of how his poor decision-making can offset some of his spectacular dimes or step-back 3-pointers, but it was just in the 2023-24 season where he averaged 18 points per game while shooting 45.6 percent from the field and 41.5 percent from deep, as he simply just hasn't come close to that level of efficiency on offense ever since.

Given Russell's poor performance last season, Harrison may have had the leverage to try and vouch for a team option compared to a player option for the 2026-27 season, but who knows how those conversations went behind closed doors.

Regardless, it's clear that Harrison made a rough valuation of Russell's ability to be the stopgap point guard Dallas desperately needed, and Russell's play has been so rough that the Mavericks may be better off giving his minutes to two-way contract signee Ryan Nembhard.