Mavericks are still suffering a steep price for Nico Harrison's disastrous philosophy

The Dallas Mavericks came into the 2025-26 season with high hopes of winning. Since then, Dallas has been in the bottom half of the Western Conference, with fans praying for Kyrie Irving to get back from his ACL tear as soon as possible. Nico Harrison, the mastermind of the Luka Doncic trade, was also fired, but in a way, his philosophy of defense winning championships is actually working, but not at all in the way Harrison intended.

The Mavs are third in the NBA when it comes to defensive efficiency. At one point, the Mavs were second in that category, only trailing the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. We would think a team this dominant on defense would be one of the best in the league, but instead, they are in the bottom half of the conference.

After giving some head-scratching excuses for trading Luka Doncic, it turned out Harrison was all about defense from the trade, as he continuously repeated that "defense wins championships" in a hand-selected press conference regarding more details of the trade. This proves that defense does not win championships, and at the end of the day, the ball needs to go in the hole to balance things out.

Harrison's philosophy is hilariously backfiring against the Mavs

You would think a team that's second or third in defense would be one of the best in the league. Most everyone in Dallas is a plus defender, and the Mavericks are the lone team that stands out as a prominent defense that isn't producing results.

The former GM of Dallas isn't missed at all among the fanbase, and what he left Dallas with will take years to fix. He has now proven that his own philosophy has backfired for the worst, and after losing the fanbase, it was time for him to get fired a few weeks ago.

It's almost like Harrison used the defense excuse as a scapegoat to get rid of Doncic. At the end of the day, Doncic has the last laugh by thriving with the Los Angeles Lakers as an MVP candidate. His outstanding offense is why it was laughable for Harrison to trade him in the first place.

Maybe in 2004, this philosophy would've worked. It worked with the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons in the early 2000s, but not now. The league has changed, and the elite defense not correlating at all with the results proves that Harrison's philosophy is officially a flop.

Harrison literally made the Lakers better, while Dallas is looking for answers in clutch time. Something for fans to look forward to is that the Mavericks have been involved in a lot of close games this season. If fans still want to compare results from the Mavs and Lakers, there are continuous rumors regarding the future of Anthony Davis.

Harrison used to be known for making amazing deals in the offseason, but none of that will be remembered. He will always be referred to as the villain of Dallas for trading away their future, who's just entering his prime. Even the Quentin Grimes trade didn't make sense under Harrison's messaging, considering his defense was pretty solid for the most part.