Mavericks narrowly avoided losing franchise savior to Spurs' relentless pursuit

The Dallas Mavericks are currently in one of the best three-year spans in franchise history as they made the Western Conference Finals in 2022 and made the NBA Finals in 2024, and now they are in the thick of the Western Conference race, slowly proving that they are one of the best teams in the NBA.

Dallas' midseason moves for Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington, and Daniel Gafford have all helped revolutionize the roster, and the Mavs are always looking to get better on the trade market. That proved to be true this summer when Dallas traded for Quentin Grimes, who has been phenomenal lately, and all of these moves have happened under Nico Harrison's watch.

Dallas hired Harrison to be their general manager in the summer of 2021, and he worked for Nike as the vice president of North American operations before joining the Mavs. Harrison got to work quickly as he made a trade sending Kristaps Porzingis to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans at the trade deadline, and this move helped the Mavs reach the conference finals later that year.

Spurs made three attempts to sign Harrison before Mavericks landed him

Harrison has helped make a plethora of moves over the years to turn the Mavs into the franchise that they are today, and a recent rumor indicates that a rival team pursued Harrison hard before he ultimately joined the Mavericks.

According to NBA insider Marc Stein, "San Antonio tried to hire Harrison (subscription required) away from Nike no less than three separate times before the Mavericks finally convinced Harrison to leave the sneaker giant to take over Dallas' front office..."

From Stein's report, it seems like the San Antonio Spurs aggressively pursued Harrison to join their front office, but he ultimately ended up choosing the Mavericks. The Spurs adding Harrison would have been absolutely wild considering their championship history and culture, and the Mavs dodged a bullet with Harrison joining them over their in-state rival.

Harrison has been a huge reason for the change in Dallas on and off the floor over the last few years, and fans should be thankful that the Spurs didn't get their hands on him. The Mavs are so confident in Harrison that they signed him to a contract extension right before the NBA Finals began last season, and he remains beyond essential to how the Mavs operate and their continuous success.

He can be seen heading to the locker room after any Mavs home game, and his connections with players and executives around the league make him irreplaceable. He has put the Mavs in a great spot to succeed every season, and they have a great chance to keep this up as long as he is at the helm.

While Harrison hasn't made any trades yet this season, that doesn't mean that he won't. Maxi Kleber has been rumored as someone who the Mavs may move, and there have been early rumors that Dallas may be quietly keeping an eye on Jimmy Butler.

You never know what kind of moves Harrison has up his sleeve, and both the Mavs and Spurs may have been in a completely different spot today if San Antonio had convinced him to join them. The Spurs and Mavericks rivalry isn't the same as it once was, but it could grow over the years as Victor Wembanyama continues to develop and they add enough pieces to contend.