Nico Harrison's reckless gamble just hit rock bottom for Mavericks

This is a sum-of-all-fears scenario for the Mavericks.

Will Miller

Dallas Mavericks, Nico Harrison / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks lost yet another offensively plagued contest, falling 118-104 to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night. The Mavericks struggled mightily to convert on open 3-point looks once again, and while Dallas' guards and wings were aggressive in their pursuits to the rim, they weren't able to generate enough looks in the paint to override their lackluster shooting, which is something that has proven to be true on multiple occasions this season.

The Mavericks have the worst offensive rating in the league still and are approaching historically low territory as far as their lack of offensive production is concerned, especially in the modern era, and this can mainly be attributed to Nico Harrison opting to prioritize offense over defense, as this is the bet Harrison made when he traded Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis.

While Doncic had a calf strain he was recovering from at the time of the trade, Davis ironically is missing time with a calf strain for the Mavericks right now, and Dallas' defensive backbone has been in shambles with Dereck Lively II also having been out since the third game of the season due to a knee sprain.

Nico Harrison's defense-first vision is crumbling fast

The Mavericks' perimeter defense has fared decently to start the year, and their rim protection has been solid in the few contests their bigs have been healthy, but it's clear Harrison trading away one of the best offensive hubs in the NBA for a 32-year-old two-way play finisher with shaky health, is a defense-for-offense swap that was a criminal type of move to make in today's NBA.

Don't get it twisted, defense is still hugely important in the modern NBA, but when Harrison traded Davis for Doncic, he took away a gigantic chunk of Dallas' offensive generation, especially since Doncic's gravity and passing made most of his teammates better when he was on the floor. Regardless of Doncic's personal shortcomings, such as his inability to get in elite shape, Harrison prematurely gave up on a top-three offensive player in the NBA and is now paying the price.

The Mavericks have had a pretty weak schedule up to this point, yet sit at 2-7 while just praying for the rest of their roster to get healthy. Dallas' marquee free agent signing in D'Angelo Russell has been extremely inconsistent, and the only real initiator/shot creator that has been somewhat efficient for the Mavericks has been Brandon Williams.

When Harrison made the Doncic trade, he envisioned a roster with a gaudy defensive front-court that could abuse teams defensively, whilst having enough offensive generation between Davis, Irving, and company to hold the fort down. However, through nine games so far this season, it's been clear the Mavericks' offense is a blackhole without their stars in the lineup, as the Mavericks are in danger of losing their season before we are even close to the quarter mark of the season.

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.