The Dallas Mavericks have opened the season 2-7 and reside at the bottom of the Western Conference standings heading into Saturday night’s game, a slide that has sharply increased questions about the future of general manager Nico Harrison.
Dallas owns the NBA’s worst offensive rating by a wide margin and has already dropped home contests to the 1-8 Washington Wizards and a New Orleans Pelicans team playing the second night of a back-to-back without Zion Williamson. The Mavericks also narrowly avoided defeat against the 1-7 Indiana Pacers.
On ESPN’s “Howdy Partners” podcast, reporter Tim MacMahon said executives around the league are openly wondering whether Harrison’s position is in danger. “A legitimate question right now is: Is Nico Harrison’s job in serious jeopardy? It is the first question that people are asking,” MacMahon noted.
The scrutiny stems largely from Harrison’s February blockbuster that sent franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for a package headlined by Anthony Davis. Doncic has flourished in Los Angeles, while Davis is sidelined once again, leaving Dallas with a roster described as both injured and ill-fitting.
Columnist Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News wrote that owner Patrick Dumont may soon have to weigh fan sentiment; chants calling for Harrison’s dismissal began almost immediately after the Doncic trade and have grown louder amid the team’s poor start.
The season remains young, but the Mavericks’ early performance—and the front office decisions that shaped it—are drawing significant league-wide attention.
Source: Hoops Wire
