Mavericks must fire Nico Harrison immediately if latest rumors are true

Nico Harrison has been under fire since he traded Luka Doncic and Quinten Grimes at the 2024 trade deadline. These trades were widely considered failures by Harrison and the Dallas Mavericks staff, yet retaining Harrison remained advantageous due to his close ties with Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis. Irving will likely decline his player option this offseason to re-sign with the Mavs on a long-term extension. However, firing Harrison could jeopardize Irving's chances of staying in Dallas.

However, after winning the 2025 lottery and a chance at Cooper Flagg, Harrison's most destructive pattern must be avoided to maximize the Flagg era. Harrison has traded almost all of the Mavs' future draft picks, leaving the franchise only two of their own picks without swap rights after this season: a 2026 and 2031 first-round pick.

Traditionally, the goal of a team trading their first is to shorten the timeline of their roster in exchange for a higher ceiling. Harrison and the Mavs have failed to do this, limiting their championship contention and roster flexibility. Winning the lottery saved the future of the Mavericks, but the Mavs have a limited ability to provide Flagg a capable supporting cast.

The Mavs are rumored to be interested in Jrue Holiday and Lonzo Ball to shore up their weak backcourt. While both players are talented and would fill a need for the team, the Mavericks cannot afford to spend a first-round pick on a short-term gamble. Both players come with major risks, and any further loss of picks would ruin the Flagg era before it begins.

Harrison's rumored offseason focus would compromise the Flagg era

The Mavs cannot afford to trade their remaining first-round picks. The Mavs have their 2026 first, the Lakers' 2029 first, Philadelphia's 2031 second-round picks, and the losing end of some first-round swaps in the vault. None of these picks project to be good, however, they give the Mavs a chance to find young talent. If Harrison trades the team's limited remaining picks, the Flagg era will be doomed.

Harrison has a tendency to spend first-round picks frivolously. When asked why he made the Doncic trade, Harrison said that "the future is three to four years from now," and that in 10 years, "they'll probably bury me and [Jason] Kidd by then." While this was a joke, it reveals Harrison's alarming lack of respect for the future of the Mavs franchise.

Regardless of whether Harrison is employed by the Mavs long-term, he has a duty to serve the interests of the team. If Harrison trades swap rights to the remaining Mavs picks for Holiday or Ball, the Mavs will not be able to support Flagg with talent after the Kyrie Irving-Anthony Davis era.

While Holiday and Ball would be great fits for this roster, Holiday will be 35 on opening tip, and Ball has played only in 41 games since New Year's Day of 2022. Holiday's age will catch up to him in the near future, and Ball's troubling injury history is a massive red flag for the Mavs.

Harrison is interested in trading for an injury-prone guard in Ball and an older player in Holiday. If these rumors are true, rather than prioritizing the Flagg era, they would be dangerously compromising their future.

Dallas is reportedly interested in Chris Paul on the free agency market. Paul, 40 years old, carries his own risks, but the Mavs can sign him without having to sacrifice the future. However, if Harrison insists on one of the veteran options, Paul carries no long-term risk (assuming he is offered a short-term contract).

If the Mavs had more picks to exchange, then perhaps trading future picks for a 2026 title run would make sense. But given the consequences of the Harrison era, Dallas cannot trade any picks. To solve their backcourt depth problem, the Mavs should only swap frontcourt players for backcourt talent if the Mavericks' draft capital either increases or remains neutral.

Mavs Governor Patrick Dumont has to draw the line. He cannot allow Harrison to trade away another pick, as the Mavericks already face an uphill battle in acquiring talent to grow alongside Flagg. Losing their last chance of getting this talent would doom the Flagg era.