Grading Nico Harrison on his first season as Dallas Mavericks GM

The Dallas Mavericks brought Nico Harrison over from Nike to be their general manager and president of basketball operations in the summer of 2021. He replaced longtime GM Donnie Nelson after plenty of drama within the organization (subscription required).

Other teams had tried to get Harrison to leave Nike, but he didn’t until he got the opportunity in Dallas to become the team’s lead decision-maker. Working with superstar Luka Doncic likely made the decision a bit easier too.

Fans were a bit worried as Harrison had no front office experience. He was a leader at Nike that developed plenty of basketball relationships, but how would he fare working the phones for trades? The Mavs promoted Michael Finley to be his number two, which gave the front office some stability, but Harrison put those fears to bed in year one of the job.

Grading Nico Harrison’s first season as Dallas Mavericks GM

The Mavs took a massive step forward in the first year under Harrison and head coach Jason Kidd to reach the Western Conference Finals. The franchise had not won a playoff series since 2011 before finishing three wins away from reaching the NBA Finals. It was a credit to the coaching from Kidd and his staff, Luka Doncic and the roster performing, and Harrison for making a few shrewd moves.

With one year in the books, how did Nico Harrison fare? Here is a look back at his first year as Dallas Mavericks president of basketball operations and general manager by grading his performance.