Mavericks' latest raging disaster has nothing to do with their play-in loss

Less than a year after making the NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks were officially eliminated from the 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament on Friday night when they lost to the Memphis Grizzlies on the road, 120-106. This came after an exciting win over the Sacramento Kings in the play-in earlier last week, but Dallas didn't have the firepower to keep up with the Grizzlies, even with Anthony Davis having an incredible game in which he scored 40 points.

This was the last thing that fans expected when the 2024-25 season began, as this year's Mavericks squad had some of the most hype around it that we've ever seen heading into a season, but nonstop injuries and reckless trades ultimately led to their destruction.

From trading Luka Doncic and Quentin Grimes at the trade deadline to nearly every player on the roster getting injured, Jason Kidd was thrust into an impossible decision, all due to the moves that Nico Harrison decided to make. While the success of Grimes and Doncic elsewhere can directly fall on Harrison's shoulders due to his decision to give up on them in the middle of their Western Conference title-defense season, some of the Mavericks' injury problems can also be pinned on him for the personnel changes he decided to make over the last two years within the organization.

Mavericks fans can partially thank Harrison for team's medical disaster

In August of 2023, the Mavericks fired director of player health and performance Casey Smith, and while the effects of this specific firing weren't felt immediately, they were undoubtedly noticeable during the Mavs' injury-cursed 2025-25 season. The Mavs dealt with injuries all season long, and Smith got the last laugh as he helped lead the New York Knicks to one of their healthiest seasons ever.

Coincidence?

Nope.

Some instances of poor injury management from the Mavs last season include Jaden Hardy injuring the same ankle multiple times, P.J. Washington's nagging ankle issues that were admittedly caused by him being overzealous to return, Davis rushing back from his abdominal injury and getting injured in his Mavs debut, and more, but one of the most concerning elements of it all was Dereck Lively II's ankle injury and everything that came along with it.

Lively II suffered what was ruled a right ankle sprain on January 14 and was ramping up to return less than a week later as he was seen without a walking boot on the sideline during Dallas' January 17 game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, ruled as questionable and worked out before the team's game against the Charlotte Hornets on January 20, and the X-rays on his ankle reportedly came back negative, but things went downhill quickly when Kidd said he wouldn't be returning soon during a press conference in Charlotte.

Mavs fans were confused by this, as he was ramping up for a return and was listed as questionable for that game, and it later came out that Lively II had a stress fracture in his foot/ankle.

It was never just a sprain.

This is one of the many scenarios that likely would have never happened if Smith were still with the Mavericks, and this was an inexcusable blunder that could have led to catastrophe for Dallas' second-year big man. Not finding a stress fracture during initial testing and allowing him to practice on it is indefensible, and new things about Dallas' underwhelming season continue to come out left and right.

According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Lively II's injury "caused what league sources describe as some significant tensions within the organization, including a notable blowup between director of player health and performance Johann Bilsborough and athletic performance director Keith Belton."

Many of Dallas' injuries were unpreventable this season, but this situation with Lively II definitely wasn't, and the Mavs' problems this season seem to stretch far beyond the hardwood. Harrison not bringing back Smith was also among the reasons that caused Dirk Nowitzki to distance himself from the organization, and it must also be remembered that Doncic was fond of Smith as well.

Seemingly, nothing that's going on around the Mavericks has been positive over the last few months, and the flaming arrows of despair flying around Harrison's organization are heartbreaking considering the way things were just a few years ago. If the greatest Dallas Maverick of all time and one of the most easygoing NBA legends ever, Dirk Nowitzki, doesn't like what's going on, then you know you have a problem.