Shams:Mavericks fire Nico Harrison

[Dan Z]

From Nico Harrison's Wikipedia page:

During his work at Nike, he botched a 2013 presentation to Stephen Curry, where according to Harrison he may have called him Seth, and the presentation used was made for Kevin Durant. This, along with not offering Curry a signature shoe, caused the superstar to switch from Nike and sign with Under Armour.[12]

[OrlandoMagic198]

Lakers was lucky to trade Davis and I doubt Mavericks are able to trade Davis since he just can not stay healthy

[meekrab]

I am kinda starting to feel bad for Nico. You can blame him all you want for that idiotic trade but in the end, the Dallas owners are the ones who wanted it done and he is just the face of it. He's basically the fall guy. And his reputation is shot. I'll be shocked if he gets another GM job any time soon

How are the owners the ones who wanted it done? Nico went to them, and they trusted the idiot they hired to be the GM.

They did not hire Nico, he was already there when they bought the team. They probably should've done a bit more research on the sport they were buying into before signing off on trading a perennial MVP candidate for a guy who's always injured though.

Doncic was a franchise player. Not someone at the end of the bench. There's no way the owners weren't in on it. If it had went down the way you think it went down, the GM would've been fired the next day. Not 9 months later.

I mean, indications are the ownership is clueless about basketball, they only understand that the team sucks and losing money now that there's no reason to go to the games except to **** talk Nico Harrison.

[makubesu]

Flag should take note the way the Mavs intentionally leaked this to the media and caused a media circus in the lead up. It’s exactly the same as they did to criticize Luka. He will be next, because the org is rotten to the core.

[Memories]

You guys realize Nico has been an evil prick to Luka BEFORE this trade right?

The dude fired his trainers, fired the best medical staff in the world that was handling any physical pains Luka was going through and always tried to rush Luka back onto the court to force him to play through injuries. Nico has an uniquely, absurdly high ego of himself and for some reason, had a total grudge against Luka during his time.

Yeah, Nico had approval from the higher ups, but let's not act like Nico was forced to do anything. Dude was a grade A PRICK towards Luka and made sure to make his life there hell before the trade.

[G R E Y]

Why? What did he do?

So I’ll chime in and say:

I think the most likely explanation is what we see on the face of it:

Nico got fed up with Luka and was in love with AD to pair with Kyrie.

The new owner signed off because the new owner had already been captured by Nico - Cuban was supposed to still be the one with basketball power, but Nico maneuvered with new ownership while Cuban was out there being a celebrity which new ownership probably resented.

New ownership gradually came to realize how wrongheaded Nico was, and the next time the Mavs disappointed, they removed him.

Now, I originally assumed that this was driven by a capricious owner that Luka acted like a diva in front of - I didn’t think it likely that a GM would spearhead this - and maybe that is what happened, but it doesn’t explain the specifics of the trade. Were I trading Luka I’d be looking for a bazillion draft picks because I’d know a “win now” trade doesn’t mean trading your best player to build around older inferior player.

The pursuit of AD smacks of Nico (and Kidd Ftr) because he/they are the ones with connection to AD.

Anything beyond that starts us down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories.

Clearly many here believe this was part of an elaborate plot to rig the league for the Lakers, but the whole reason everyone thinks that is because the Lakers are already the glamour franchise and have been for many decades acquiring players with publicly available information, and the one time something shady actually happened, it was the NBA not allowing Paul to go to the Lakers for reasons that violated what they’d previously announced (“NO GM has decision making power”).

In the end I’d say is that the NBA is not explicitly rigged to favor Los Angeles, but rather LA just has a big advantage because NBA players would rather play in LA than <insert one’s personal home town>.

Regarding Nico’s future, my guess is that he never has a high profile position again. Doesn’t mean he’ll be poor, but he’ll now forever be known for this trade, and so no owner will ever want to have Nico as the face of their front office.

I see Nico as a guy who was brought in for his connections but came to drink his own kool aid as a basketball man, and then brought his reign crashing down.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I haven't changed my mind since:

I really think there's no need for conspiracy and league involvement:
- Nico full of himself after the Mavs went to the finals
- Nico owes his career to Kobe, and sees him as a model for how a professional athlete should behave
- Nico doesn't like Luka, as a person and as a professional basketball player
- Nico grabbing more and more power as Cuban sold and was left out from all basketball operations
- Nico pushing out from the organization all Luka guys and circling himself of yes man
- Nico foolishly sharing his frustrations with his 'friend" Pelinka
- Nico big fan of Anthony Davis, with whom he has a long timed relationship, and wants him in particular
- Pelinka smelling the opportunity and starts playing Nico like a violin, to the point Nico thinks he's the one who suggested the trade
- Nico drinking more and more of his own koolaid
- The new owner is not a basketball person, without his own network of people to ask, and he doesn't even think about consulting with Cuban (they must have an awful relationship)
- Nico mentions the 'biggest contract of all time" to a guy who doesn't understand the CBA, explains him that Luka is a fat alcoholic, unlike the real legends who were working all the time (like Shaq)
- The owner trusts his basketball expert, who was the main driving force for the Mavs reaching the finals
- Pelinka makes sure the trade remains secret because reasons, uses all the info Nico shared with him over the years to negotiate the price down
- Nico very proud for being the most powerful person in the organization. More than Cuban and more than Luka, now.

No need for conspiracies.
All I see is a narcissist, power hungry, incompetent person in a perfect storm situation without proper checks and balances.
It sounds like a metaphor of the US as a whole, actually, lol.

Nico is probably a very manipulative person, who managed to win Dumont's trust and exclude Cuban.
And he got manipulated by his dear friend, who knew that the only way to get this thing done was to keep it confidential.
Moreover, Dumont is business person, and in business the general opinion is that the top managers are the ones responsible for the company success, the real brain.
Normal employees are replaceable.
I think he didn't fully underatand that in sports, basketball in particular, the players are by far your biggest asset. No GM will ever be worth a Luka Doncic, but he might have thought that it was like when a manager came to him asking to get rid of someone in his team he didn't like.

This is excellent and on the whole entirely plausible.

"Should have fired him before the trade," Luka, probably.

Harrison should have been scrutinized more closely the moment he started getting rid of everyone closest to Luka. I'm not sure of the timeline, but was it not before Mavs went to the finals? If so, then Harrison's ego of leveraging creating a supporting cast around Luka was only bolstered by Luka's PO play. Ironic.

We can acknowledge there's truth in that both the Luka trade was ridiculous and that Luka-ball is problematic. He *did* come to camp out of shape, *did* dominate the ball and maybe teammates didn't like it, *did* coast on D, and my least favourite, *did* bitch to the refs excessively. So let's say your vision is that much like Harden-ball or Trae or Ja or whoever, you don't want that style of play or that contract for that player. These are legitimate issues.

But to have such a maaaaaassive ego that you actually think getting AD for Luka is some sort of coup, or even just getting 'your guy' to solidify your power position and force the guy with the highest power out in Luka is a staggering miscalculation. I suspect Harrison sought to keep this deal quiet so that ownership wouldn't hear from dissenting voices against not only trading Luka but for *that* package.

Like teams with lesser but more problematic stars are trying to figure out ways to make it work, ie/Zion, Ja, Trae. Harden **** all over Rockets on his way out while being super fat at camp and they still got a better return, and that was with knowing he only wanted one destination.

I can't stand Harrison's scheming **** face. That soft high pitched voice and those cartoonish chevron eyebrows like some sketched villain. And then from that came the hits against Luka, like the primary impetus wasn't a power play but 'basketball reasons'.

HINT: If the Lakers are willing to trade AD who was acquired to please LBJ, you should be asking yourself why.

Hmmm oh look at this beautiful giant wooden horse gift! Of course Harrison thought he pulled off a deal, or didn't care if it was a bad one (or that he could have gotten better ones; the point of a quick and quiet deal was to make sure it got done before anyone was the wiser. He couldn't risk it being pulled and Luka staying). In that sense he was deceiving ownership which stupidly attributed a finals run to him as the architect of supporting cast around Luka *rather than Luka*.

Harrison must have been rubbing his hands together at how it was unfolding as he long planned. Should have brushed up on some classics: The Trojan Horse one; the overly ambitious general who kills the king one...

This is some Shakespeare level deception, grasp at power that leads to your own undoing drama. Harrison orchestrated his own demise, ruining a franchise in the process. It's incredible.

Now it's fair to ask whether the Hawks draft day trade is still the worst in memory. Because as much of a coup as it was to get Luka, it's at least as big of a tragic mistake to have let him go.

Epic stuff, that.

And now at least Luka joins a stable ownership and FO. Still winning and wowing fans while Harrison is an unemployed cautionary tale.

Also, beware Rob Lowe doppelganger' friends...

[HotRocks34]

And now at least Luka joins a stable ownership and FO.

Yep. Dallas was a mess when Luka was there IMO, including before Nico arrived.

Glad he's out of there.

[California Gold]

Good riddance is all I can say.

[sp6r=underrated]

Should've fired him the minute he traded a top-4 player in the world coming off an NBA Finals appearance for an injury-prone 32 year-old nicknamed "Street Clothes."

These attacks on Anthony Davis are so unfair. Since the trade, Anthony Davis has played 14 GAMES for the Mavericks. Not a single NFL player has played that many games. If he's more durable than NFL players you know he's tough.

[EArl]

He should be hired by the Spurs. We could use Wemby

[Statlanta]

Dumont should be fired or have all his shares pawned off to minority owners.

[Edrees]

I'm just sick of the "dumont didn't know basketball cant blame him for getting tricked into trading Luka" thing.

I will be honest. I have no watched a single MLB game in 20 years. That's right. That's how long it's been.

If I was owner of the dodgers, I would listen to everything the people around me told me to do. Since I have no clue what I'm doing I'd trust them.

But the second you told me to trade Otani for a worse payer without draft consideration, I would say no, are you stupid? And say no.

Keep in mind I know less about Baseball than most everyone. And I am not stupid enough to do that trade.

If Dumont could be convinced to trade Luka, he is a complete idiot, and a moron, and will only spell doom for the Mavs franchise. They will go nowhere with someone that is stupid enough to be convinced that trading Luka was a good idea.

If I could convince you that a dollar is worth more than a penny, it doesn't matter how good of debater, or how tricky I am. Anyone who would believe that is already stupid and bad at decision making.

Here's a fun exercise. Think of the person that you trust most in this world. You'd trust them with anything. If they told you to jump off a skyscraper, and that you'd fly/survive, would you trust them blindly and just jump? At some point YOU HAVE TO USE COMMON SENSE.

[Archx]

Should've fired him the minute he traded a top-4 player in the world coming off an NBA Finals appearance for an injury-prone 32 year-old nicknamed "Street Clothes."

These attacks on Anthony Davis are so unfair. Since the trade, Anthony Davis has played 14 GAMES for the Mavericks. Not a single NFL player has played that many games. If he's more durable than NFL players you know he's tough.

You forgot to add this to your argument. 2 players are always better than one

Read on Twitter

[sp6r=underrated]

Should've fired him the minute he traded a top-4 player in the world coming off an NBA Finals appearance for an injury-prone 32 year-old nicknamed "Street Clothes."

These attacks on Anthony Davis are so unfair. Since the trade, Anthony Davis has played 14 GAMES for the Mavericks. Not a single NFL player has played that many games. If he's more durable than NFL players you know he's tough.

You forgot to add this to your argument. 2 players are always better than one

Read on Twitter

Good point. He managed to turn 1 player into two players with three eyebrows between them. That's impressive!

[sp6r=underrated]

the NBA orchestrated a trade to get a young superstar to the Lakers and now the Mavs are firing the fall guy to cover for that fact. Luka was not made available to to all teams. Just the Lakers. It's all so laughable. To throw the Mavs a bone and repay them for this they gifted them the #1 pick since it's a legit franchise talent in Cooper Flagg. After the trade, for the first time in his career, Luka conveniently gets into shape and is poised to take over for the soon to retire Lebron. The NBA is legit WWE levels of scripted at this point and they wonder why ratings are horrible and a general apathy towards the league has taken root.

How are you doing on this fine morning, Alex Jones?

I don't get why these folks follow the NBA. If you really think Silver, or Stern before him, forces trade the NBA is no different than the WWE and you shouldn't care about it at all from a competitive, athletic standpoint.

[baller16]

Unemployed

He's out here joking about this whole fiasco. He was nothing but scapegoat for the owners and everyone fell for it. I called it from the start

[sp6r=underrated]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

The Mavericks primary crisis right now is the complete lack of trust from fans. This letter was a start but it should have been far more explicit. It should have included:

[list=]1. Trading Luka was a mistake. We know that now.
2. We approached the trade in the wrong. We traded Luka without shopping him. That was a mistake. We know that now.
3. We failed to negotiate properly with LA. We could have gotten far more out of Los Angeles than we did.[/list]

Mavericks fans don't trust the team. A lot of em believe in some farout conspiracies that the Mavericks were trying to help the Lakers at the expense of the Mavericks. They need to acknowledge their poor decision-making and competence with regards to that trade to rebuild trust.

[The1llness]

Lakers was lucky to trade Davis and I doubt Mavericks are able to trade Davis since he just can not stay healthy

I fired up the Trade Machine and couldn't find a single trade that even worked salary-wise much less made sense personnel-wise.

I think AD, given his injury history and the fact that he's owed 160m over the next 3 years, is untradeable at this point so the best course for the Mavs is to have him take the year off, tank, and have him and Kyrie come back next year.

Also, hot take: The Grimes trade was as bad as the Luka trade considering the gap in talent between him and Caleb Martin is even wider than the one between AD and Luka.

[Castle Black]

Imagine they traded him back to the lakers

Read on Twitter

[An Unbiased Fan]

The non-conspiracy crowd is way behind the program - it’s not even a “conspiracy” anymore. Nico himself said, “I think the fans are finally starting to see the vision,” after drafting Cooper. The Mavericks’ GM literally confirmed that getting the No. 1 overall pick was part of the franchise shift that started when they traded Luka.

How are you supposed to guarantee something like that without assurances from the league office, huh?

And what’s your excuse for ignoring that direct admission this time? More “he said / she said” gossip about Harrison hating Luka and Dumont eating his own boogers?

Get real.

A Spurs fan talking about draft conspiracies is wild.