Nico Harrison's selfish plan could curse the Mavericks' Cooper Flagg era

Jared A’Latorre

Dallas Mavericks, Nico Harrison / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The clock is ticking down for Cooper Flagg to become a member of the Dallas Mavericks. It's still hitting some fans that the Mavs had a 1.8 percent chance to get the No. 1 pick. With Flagg being described as a one-in-a-generation player, it almost makes up for the turmoil that Nico Harrison started by trading Luka Doncic.

Harrison has received a mostly negative reaction from the fans and media, and things have no doubt boiled over from the Mavs fans inside and outside American Airlines Center multiple times this season. Even though Flagg is about to be a member of the Mavs, he still isn't safe with Harrison as his GM.

Following the Doncic trade, Harrison had stated that he's not in for the long run, and will bury himself in about 3-4 years, the same timeline that Flagg should be inching toward his prime. As Flagg has already been dealing with rumors linking Jason Kidd to the New York Knicks, this might be a long-term issue if Dallas isn't careful dealing with Flagg.

Harrison's short-term obsession puts Flagg's future in jeopardy

The Mavericks are in the middle of trying to extend Kyrie Irving, to hopefully keep him happy enough to stay for the rest of his career. Along with Anthony Davis and Flagg, the Mavericks are going to end up with one of the most unstoppable trios in the NBA. The only problem is Harrison's philosophy, by basically saying he's not going to know what will happen in the next 3-4 years.

This is an issue that Patrick Dumont has to address immediately. If Doncic can get traded, who else can? Flagg is not safe by any means. Harrison needs to establish a strong relationship with Flagg, as fans would go bonkers if Harrison managed to mess this up again.

Harrison made a big mistake during the end-of-year press conference. He stated that he didn't realize how important Doncic was to the city of Dallas. Dallas fans are known to be some of the warmest fans in all of professional sports, and will welcome Flagg with nothing but open arms. Harrison's history is a red flag for Flagg's future.

Maybe by now, Harrison has learned his lesson. He's now realized that trading a generational talent won't be met with positive praise. Only time will tell if Harrison was right with his "defense wins championships" mantra.

Flagg should fit perfectly into Harrison's vision, as he is known for his defense and hard work, but Harrison must change his mindset when it comes to how he manages superstars and approaches the future. He can no longer go all in on winning a title over the next few years, as he has to make keeping Flagg happy his main priority as he starts his NBA career.

The point is, Harrison's history is a red flag that Flagg is not necessarily safe being in Dallas. This shows that the Mavs have opened up a lot more, getting the No. 1 draft pick, and Dumont has to bring in someone to work alongside Harrison to make sure he treats his superstar in the Flagg era differently than he did in the Doncic era.

Jared A’Latorre

Jared is the Site Expert of Sport DFW, and oversees Dallas sports all the time. He also spent time as a Senior Contributor to The Smoking Cuban, The Landry Hat and Gig Em' Gazette. His work has been featured on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, Yahoo Sports and MSN. He also covered various sports at Oklahoma State and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Media from Oklahoma State. He's done play-by-play radio broadcasting in North Central Oklahoma and currently does play-by-play radio broadcasting for high school football in North Texas. Jared is also a co-host for Grizzlies Digest, covering the Memphis Grizzlies. In his free time, Jared loves watching sports, spending time with family and friends and watching anything Billy Bob Thornton related.