Mavericks' Nico Harrison disaster intensifies after Anthony Davis controversy

Dallas Mavericks big man Anthony Davis has missed the last five games with a left calf strain, and a recent disagreement surrounding his return date illustrates just how much of Patrick Dumont's trust in Nico Harrison has faded. Dumont and Harrison were the duo that ultimately pulled the trigger on the Luka Doncic trade, as Harrison quietly proposed this move without involving anyone else in the front office, and Dumont signed off on it.

This move was Harrison's trade that Dumont was ultimately fine with, but Dumont's faith in Harrison and his ability to make decisions for his $3.5 million investment is dwindling.

According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon (as reported in Monday's episode of The Hoop Collective), Davis worked out ahead of the Mavericks' game against the Washington Wizards on Saturday and was ready to return. There was some "internal disagreement" between the Mavericks' medical team (with Dumont siding with them) and other voices within the organization surrounding Davis and his availability for Saturday, and they ultimately decided to keep him out despite his desires to play in that game.

Nico Harrison no longer has full control of the Mavericks' ship

Despite this seeming like a small disagreement that ended with no hard feelings, signs of the Mavericks' core crumbling are clear. And they can't be ignored.

Davis rushing back from this calf strain and playing against the Wizards could've resulted in a disaster for Dallas, as these injuries typically don't heal super quickly. Mavericks fans know this well, as Luka Doncic suffered a calf strain on last Christmas just over one month before he was traded, and Davis getting re-injured would've turned Dallas upside down.

The last thing that the Mavericks needed was Davis playing before the medical team felt he was ready, and Dallas has already learned this in the past.

The hard way.

In Davis' first game as a Maverick on February 8, he strained his adductor and was forced to sit out the next month and a half. The risk of re-injury was high, but he ultimately rushed back from injury to play in this game. Davis likely wanted to help silence all of the negativity from fans directed toward Harrison by playing, but it ended up blowing up in his face.

Dallas couldn't risk something similar happening again, and Dumont inserted himself into the decision-making process, saying that he didn't agree with Davis making his return over the weekend.

The fact that Dumont went from blindly trusting Nico Harrison to execute the Doncic trade to giving his opinion on when a star player should return from an injury is a major change, and he clearly doesn't have as much faith in Harrison as he once did.

MacMahon stated that Dumont's trust in Harrison has "disintegrated," and it's clear that Dumont hears Mavericks fans' plea to "fire Nico." This chant has become fans' rallying cry ever since Doncic was traded to the Lakers back in February, and the negativity surrounding the organization is overwhelmingly clear.

Everything feels different.

From the vibes at practice to fan energy at home games, and more. The ghost of Luka Doncic remains alive and well inside the walls of the American Airlines Center, and the only way to flip the page and rid themselves of this may be to fire Harrison and start a new era that is entirely focused on Cooper Flagg.

Harrison's "vision" of winning the NBA Finals over the next few years is completely unattainable, but he won't be the one to accept that. He likely wants to do whatever it takes to help the Mavericks come closer to reaching this goal, but no move he can make will make this team an NBA Finals contender.

The entire organization, Dumont included, needs to accept that Flagg is the future and the Doncic trade set them back for years to come. They need to take their losses, and do what they can to get fans back on their side and make it fun to be a Mavericks fan once again.

Fans in Dallas have been on edge for the last 282 days, even just minutes before they drafted Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick.

There were "fire Nico" chants that erupted at the Mavericks' draft party on the day of the 2025 NBA Draft that resulted in the in-arena production team having to turn up the volume on their live center-court show to drown out the noise. Thousands of fans packed the lower bowl at the American Airlines Center to celebrate Flagg coming to Dallas, but they didn't let their disgust toward Harrison go unheard.

Mavericks fans still aren't over the Doncic trade, even with Flagg joining the squad, and Harrison has become the biggest villain among fans in franchise history.

The Mavericks are no longer an organization that is run however Harrison wants. Dumont has taken back some control, as shown by this disagreement surrounding Davis' return from injury, and this signals just how bad things have gotten in Dallas.

This is not a well-oiled machine right now, and the fact that Dumont and Harrison are no longer on the same page signals that the end is near.