ESPN drops major Nico Harrison update Mavericks fans have been begging for

These next few weeks will be crucial for Dallas' front office.

Will Miller

Dallas Mavericks, Nico Harrison / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Ever since the Dallas Mavericks made the Luka Doncic trade on February 1, there have been fans calling for Nico Harrison's job, and they have been validated based on the early-season results from the Los Angeles Lakers compared to the Mavericks. Harrison's bold bet on defense, size, and physicality hasn't boded well for him so far this season, as the Mavericks are once again struggling to maintain the health of all three of their highest-paid big men.

Last in the Western Conference at 2-6, Dallas' season could be over before they even know it, and most fans are hoping Harrison's fate will be the same. ESPN reporter and long-time Mavericks reporter Tim MacMahon recently gave fans the first update of the year in regard to Harrison's job security, and while MacMahon didn't reveal anything concrete happening behind the walls in Dallas' front office, Dallas' slow start is certainly drawing eyeballs on Harrison.

"Is Nico Harrison's job in serious jeopardy?" MacMahon said on Thursday's episode of Howdy Partners. "That is an absolutely legitimate question. It's the question, obviously, Mavericks fans had been hoping would be answered with an affirmative since early February. I don't have a firm answer for you right now; that's as much as I can tell you, but it's absolutely a legitimate question. When you talk to people about the Mavericks around the league, it's the first question that people are asking."

Nico Harrison could be approaching dangerous territory

MacMahon is one of the most credible NBA reporters in the game, so it's more than likely he's talking to individuals around front offices on a day-to-day basis, so it's not good for Harrison's sake that opposing teams are asking MacMahon if Harrison is going to be fired anytime the Mavericks come up in their discussions, as Dallas clearly has one of the worst league-wide perceptions out of any front office in the league.

Obviously, Harrison made too colossal a move, and it's too early in the season for it to seem plausible that governor Patrick Dumont would fire him at this juncture, but this will undoubtedly leave a grey cloud looming over Harrison's head until if/when the Mavericks can start to turn this ship around.

While head coach Jason Kidd has a few subtle tweaks he can still make to accentuate this rotation, and he may have waited too long to put a real point guard in the starting five, most of Dallas' issues this season have been tied to roster construction rather than rotations.

It seems like Kidd could also get more dynamic with some of Dallas' offensive schemes, but this could be tied to him not feeling comfortable enough to run more complex actions with the lack of a true shot creator in many of their lineups, so it's without a doubt the Mavericks are in a bind in this department right now.

Many fans and analysts lobbied for Harrison to trade for another creator this summer, yet he thought D'Angelo Russell would suffice on the Taxpayer's MLE, which has only been the case in the few contests Russell has gotten hot shooting the ball. Davis has been out since the opening minutes of Dallas' win over the Indiana Pacers last week, as his health woes continue into the early season for the Mavericks.

Clearly, Harrison has pulled nearly all the wrong strings since the Doncic trade, despite pulling all the right strings to help get this team to the NBA Finals just a little over 17 months ago. Hopefully, the Mavericks can start to get some games in the win column, but if not, Dumont's blind trust in Harrison could be tested to the max sooner rather than later.

Will Miller

Will Miller is a senior contributor and is in his second year with The Smoking Cuban. Will has been following the Dallas Mavericks for over a decade and is currently working on getting a Bachelors in Science in Sports Journalism from the University of North Texas, as he is also covering sports for the North Texas TV station. While Will is opening up his coverage to cover other sports for UNT, basketball and the Dallas Mavericks are his true passion and he hopes to continue writing and producing Mavericks related content as his career continues. Will has very solid in-game analysis and knowledge about the intricacies of the game, and has a very broad understanding about the NBA as a whole. Going forward Will is looking to be more expansive in his coverage of the Mavericks beyond writing as well. Outside of writing about the Mavericks, Will enjoys hanging with friends, going to the gym, and watching other sports and live events.