Mavericks' controversial Anthony Davis plan exposes how wrong Nico Harrison was

The shock of the Dallas Mavericks trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis has finally started to die down, but the heartbreak behind the move has only increased. Fans are still outraged about the move, but it seems like they are beginning to accept the fate of Doncic in Los Angeles, as well as the Mavericks' fate.

Dallas lost the face of the city due to this risky trade, and seeing Doncic thrive on the Lakers while the Mavericks crash and burn has only made everything worse. The Mavs are now 33-37 on the season and the No. 11 seed in the West while the Lakers are 43-26 and the No. 4 seed and this season has gone nowhere close to how it was expected to go for Dallas. They made it to the NBA Finals last season, and now they're flirting with having a pick in the lottery for the second time in three years.

Davis going down in his first game with the team with an adductor strain combined with all of the other injuries has been a significant reason for Dallas' struggles recently, but how the organization is handling Davis and his injury recovery further emphasizes how poorly Nico Harrison's plan since trading Doncic has gone. Harrison was ready to win right now after the Davis-Doncic trade, and that couldn't be further from what is going on right now. Dallas has lost nine of their last 10 games, and Davis may not even return to help them get out of this mess.

Nico Harrison's win-now vision for the Mavs is long gone

This doesn't seem to have anything to do with Davis' health though, as he has been trending toward an in-season return for some time now. Despite this progress from Davis, the Mavericks are skeptical about bringing him back this season despite his eagerness to get back on the floor, as they aren't convinced it would be worth the risk at this point.

This isn't a bad plan from Dallas, as Davis getting injured in some capacity would make this disastrous season even worse, but it shows how far astray the Mavericks have been forced to go from Harrison's plan. Fans' excitement from the first three quarters of Davis' Mavericks debut has slowly turned into a major concern for the future, and fans' hope in Harrison's plan is at an all-time low.

Harrison thought the Mavericks would be better with Davis right now and into the future, and the fact that the team is contemplating not bringing Davis back shows how quickly things have changed. Harrison's vision of making a push for the NBA Finals this year with Kyrie Irving and Davis leading the way has turned into the team contemplating not bringing their superstar back even once he gets fully healthy, and next season can't come quick enough.

It remains unclear if Davis will make a return this season or not, and time will tell what the team decides to do. Their choice is not easy, as the benefits of bringing Davis back are limited, but it's clear that Harrison's vision for the past month and a half has been thrown out the window due to some of the wildest circumstances and bad luck we've seen in NBA history.