Mavericks just got burned by a nasty Nico Harrison mistake — again

One of Nico Harrison's worst moves from last offseason was waiving Olivier-Maxence Prosper to re-sign Dante Exum, and this has crumbled into a disaster for the Dallas Mavericks. Exum has not played a game all year, and Prosper is emerging at the perfect time for Memphis.

The Grizzlies' injuries have allowed Prosper to secure a much more expanded role over the last few weeks, and he's tackling this opportunity head-on. He finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and three steals in a win over Dallas on Friday night while shooting 7-10 from the field and 2-4 from downtown, reminding Mavericks fans in attendance of what they should still have.

O-Max Prosper is thriving while Dante Exum's career nosedives

Prosper's Mavericks career was filled with peaks and valleys, as his game was always extremely raw, but he's finally starting to get the hang of things in Memphis. His confidence is looking much higher than it did for most of his time in Dallas, and this recent stretch is proof of that.

He's averaging 15.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game over his last eight games while shooting 59.7 percent from the field, 46.9 percent from three, and 86.7 percent from the free throw line. All parts of his game are beginning to round out in his third season in the NBA, and it hurts Mavericks fans to watch.

He no longer looks like a deer in headlights when he has the ball in his hands, and he obviously just needed a little bit more time to develop into the player that he is today for the Grizzlies. Prosper always had the physical tools to be a rotation 3-and-D wing in today's NBA, and he's proving that in Memphis.

He's shooting 40 percent from three on the year on 2.0 attempts per game, and this is a major improvement from his outside shooting in Dallas. Prosper shot 26 percent from three on 1.0 attempts per game over his first two years as a Maverick, and his lack of shooting, combined with indecisiveness, limited his on-court effectiveness.

Dallas' bet on Dante Exum backfired right away

The Mavericks ran out of patience for him to develop into a rotation player, and with Kyrie Irving missing significant time this season due to a torn ACL, Harrison signed Exum to a one-year deal to bolster their backcourt. This was a questionable move from the start, especially since Exum only played 75 games over his first two seasons in Dallas, but Harrison rolled the dice.

He re-signed Exum, knowing that he had undergone a summer knee surgery, and this quickly turned into a disaster for Dallas. Exum had to have a second knee surgery, immediately ending his season before he even played a game.

The Mavericks got rid of him as part of the Anthony Davis trade earlier this season, but he should've never been their problem to begin with this season. Dallas knew they were entering the Cooper Flagg era after drafting him, and keeping another young wing to hold down the back of the bench would've made much more sense than betting on Exum to stay healthy.

He was great when he was on the court, as he was the most consistent catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter on the team while providing secondary playmaking and defense, but he could never stay healthy for an extended period.

Harrison should've known better after watching how injury-prone Exum was during his first two seasons with the team, but he didn't learn his lesson. And it's costing them as the 2025-26 season winds down.