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Nico Harrison was going to need a lot of things to go right to properly justify trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. While some things did go right, like landing the No. 1 pick and drafting Cooper Flagg, far more things went wrong. Anthony Davis was the big selling point to the Dallas Mavericks‘ fan base, but he hasn’t been able to stay healthy. Kyrie Irving also got hurt shortly after the trade. With the Mavericks having a dreadful start to this season, the team decided to fire Harrison. This is something the fans have been calling for from the moment he traded Doncic, but it seemed like Dallas would give him a chance to see out his vision. Instead, he’s unemployed and it’s hard to imagine another team giving him a shot anytime soon. Doncic was the centerpiece of the blockbuster trade last season, but forward Maxi Kleber was also part of the deal. Doncic likely won’t say much on the matter, but Kleber had a blunt response to the news of Harrison’s dismissal. “It’s a fast business, man. [For] GMs, players, coaches; everybody,” Kleber said after practice. “So, you always gotta be ready for the next move.” Harrison Was On Borrowed Time The situation with Harrison and the Mavericks fan base became so toxic after the Doncic trade. Unless the team was really good after the deal, it was going to be difficult for him to regain their trust. With the team playing poorly, the writing was on the wall for Harrison, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “The situation in Dallas had reached a point of being untenable,” MacMahon wrote. “Dumont had lost trust in Harrison, as evidenced by the governor’s involvement in the decision to hold off on Davis’ return over the weekend, siding with the Mavs’ medical staff’s desire to not risk aggravating the calf injury. The uncertainty hanging over Harrison’s head loomed like a black cloud over the entire organization.” People around the NBA knew that Harrison was likely on his way out. “It is just a matter of time,” a league source told ESPN on Monday, before Harrison was officially fired. Davis Could Get Traded Now that Harrison is out, the Mavericks have to go back to the drawing board. That means that they may have to embrace youth and move on from veterans. The most likely trade piece is Davis. Considering his injury history, he doesn’t make sense with the Mavericks right now. He should be the No. 2 on a team with an established star. MacMahon isn’t sure that Davis has a robust trade market right now. “It’s uncertain what the trade market for Davis would be due to his durability issues, although he is still a dominant force on both ends of the floor when healthy,” MacMahon wrote. “Several league sources were adamant that gauging the market over the upcoming months is due diligence that Dallas must undertake, as it’s become clear that Harrison’s hopes of a three- to four-year window of contention won’t come to fruition.”
