Mavericks exec's Cooper Flagg take quietly explains how Nico Harrison dodged the axe

Some of the biggest days are ahead for the Dallas Mavericks, and after landing the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, the sky is the limit for the Mavs to go all the way as soon as next season.

With Cooper Flagg being the presumptive No. 1 pick, this opens a door for Dallas that has rarely ever opened before. In what was described to be the most shocking trade in sports history, the Luka Doncic trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, it actually ended up going in Dallas' favor (even though the Mavs were clearly robbed).

While that was a miracle to happen in the first place, it's now up to Nico Harrison to not trade away once-in-a-generational masterpiece in Flagg. Winning the Flagg sweepstakes was the only way the Mavericks could escape the Luka Doncic nightmare, and it somehow happened.

Mavericks Assistant GM Matt Riccardi pointed out that the once temporary window for an NBA championship has now opened a completely new timeline due to the addition of Flagg. It's also why Harrison can keep his job, instead of him having to bury himself after three to four years, as he said in the press conference following the trade.

Cooper Flagg may have saved Nico Harrison from getting fired

After Doncic was traded, a 1.8 percent chance transpired into a miracle by the Mavericks getting the No. 1 pick in the draft. Riccardi spoke on the 'Take Dat Wit You' podcast (skip to 18:38) with Brian Dameris and Mark Followill and spoke about how the championship window for Dallas just massively expanded.

"I would say, more than anything, it makes the [championship] window 20 years instead of three... We're trying to win it every single year and the guys that we have, we felt like before this draft lottery, that we had a good enough team to win a championship," Riccardi said.

There's no doubt that Flagg makes the team's average age much younger than it was before. After adding Davis and Caleb Martin to subtract Doncic and Quentin Grimes was already malpractice, but Flagg will be the next face of the Mavs, and potentially the face of the NBA once Davis and Kyrie Irving retire.

Harrison has had his chance to learn from the Doncic trade. After all, the 'fire Nico' chants all season long came to a peak when Doncic torched the Mavs on his homecoming night. He doesn't have to worry about him and Kidd burying themselves by trading a generational talent for a risky short-term project. Flagg is the real deal, and the basketball gods came to Harrison's rescue when the ping pong balls fell in the Mavs' favor.

Dallas' championship window is no longer three or four years.

As Riccardi said, Dallas will have a shot at contending for a title for the next 20 years, and the Mavs "capturing the Flagg" truly may have saved Harrison from losing his job.

There have been many media personalities talking about how the Flagg hype train might be halted if he doesn't show up to be the generational player he can be. Of course, like every rookie we've seen in NBA history, this is a trial-and-error year for Flagg. Barring a significant injury, he's expected to win Rookie of the Year. His first test will be how he can play with Irving gone for the first half of the season, but him excelling during that time should erase any doubt about him.