Mavericks get a painful reminder of one of Nico Harrison's mistakes at Summer League

The Dallas Mavericks fired Nico Harrison over eight months ago, but one of the moves he made before the start of his final season with the team is still hurting Dallas nearly a year later. He made many blunders during his time with the Mavericks, including trading Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, but one of his more forgotten mistakes was giving up on Olivier-Maxence Prosper too soon.

Harrison decided to cut Prosper to sign Dante Exum to a one-year deal last offseason, and this decision has aged poorly for the Mavericks.

Olivier-Maxence Prosper's rise is bad news for Dallas

Not only did Exum not play a single game after signing this deal following consecutive knee surgeries, but Prosper had an excellent season for the Memphis Grizzlies. He signed a two-way contract with Memphis last summer after Dallas waived him and played himself into a standard deal. The former Marquette Golden Eagle averaged 10.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 0.8 steals per game while shooting 54.9 percent from the field and 40.5 percent from beyond the arc last season.

These are extremely impressive numbers considering that he shot 39.6 percent from the field and 26 percent from three as a Maverick, and the difference between how he played in Dallas compared to Memphis was night and day.

Prosper put on a show against the Mavericks

Many of the problems that plagued his time with Dallas were minimized during his breakout season for the Grizzlies, and he just gave the Mavericks a painful reminder of why they shouldn't have moved on at NBA Summer League.

Dallas played the Grizzlies on Monday night, and Prosper did not disappoint. He finished with 18 points, five rebounds, and one steal while shooting 7-for-14 from the field and 4-for-9 from downtown. The 6-foot-7 forward continued his success as a shooter from last season and finished well around the basket.

Playing Summer League heading into your fourth season may not be a great sign, but in Prosper’s case, there's no reason for him not to play. Memphis is a young team, and playing alongside Cameron Boozer and Cedric Coward will prepare him for next season.

His improvement last season was evident, and his performance at Summer League has shown that he's improved even more before next season. O-Max having a big game against the Mavericks made their decision to get rid of him sting even more, and if Prosper develops into a high-level starter, Dallas' move to waive him for Exum will look even more disastrous.

Masai Ujiri would've helped Prosper develop even more

On top of the negative optics that come with waiving a young player for an injury-prone guard, Prosper would've been a great fit for what the Mavs are trying to build around Cooper Flagg right now. Masai Ujiri loves lengthy wings with an elite work ethic, and this describes Prosper to a T.

He's a 6-foot-7 forward with a 7-foot-1 wingspan who works hard, plays both ends, and plays bigger than his height, and Dallas would've been able to develop him beautifully. Ujiri's teams do an incredible job of developing players with Prosper's archetype, and he probably would've never given up on him if he were in Harrison's position last summer.

Prosper's development, coupled with Exum not even being on the Mavericks anymore, will always be painful for Mavs fans, and Prosper's year-over-year growth rips the O-Max-sized hole in Dallas even bigger.

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