From the moment he hit town assuring us in buttery tones that he’d lead with a “servant’s heart,” Nico Harrison fooled everyone, right up to the night he wrecked the franchise nine months ago before leaving it in ruins Tuesday.
No one saw the real Nico until it was too late. Not Mark Cuban, who hired him. Not Patrick Dumont, who trusted him.
Not those of us who couldn’t have imagined such an unassuming, reclusive character would do more damage to an organization in nine months than Jerry Jones has managed with the Cowboys in all his bluster over the last 30 years.
Dumont’s dismissal of the man who will forever be remembered for one of the worst trades ever puts an end to the “Fire Nico” chants pulsating through local arenas, even if the Mavs’ long nightmare is far from over.
Mavericks
There’s no quick fix for a mess even Dirk Nowitzki, gentlest of icons, called out recently in a national forum.
Hard to say if Dirk’s incisive criticism — “They can’t shoot, they can’t make plays. Nobody can make shots. It’s been tough to watch” — was the last straw. In his open letter to customers Tuesday, which served as little more than a weak apology for the disaster, Dumont acknowledged the “profound impact” of events since the February trade of Luka Doncic. He didn’t say how long it took him to come to such an obvious conclusion.
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For a shark-infested bunch that couldn’t wait to get into it with the Stars, these Vegas people have been surprisingly slow on the uptake when it comes to the locals.
First they misjudged the blowback from dumping Luka, a transaction that went over locally like Nolan Ryan’s exit from the Rangers. Then they cynically figured everyone would get over it just as soon as the Mavs started winning.
Only they’re not winning, not even close, and nothing, not even the return of Kyrie Irving, suggests they’ll do so with the roster Nico’s constructed.
Remember when Luka’s critics promised the offense and defense would improve in his absence because the ball would move more?
Have you watched the Mavs when they have the ball? The last time I saw an offense like this, we took it for snow cones afterward.
What makes Nico’s nine-month reign of error so bewildering is that, pretty much right up until he traded Luka — then doubled down by sending Quentin Grimes to the 76ers for Dwight Powell’s seatmate — he had my vote as the best personnel guy in the market. He’d made mistakes – trading a first-rounder for Christian Wood comes to mind — but any GM you’d want in charge of your team’s aspirations makes a few. Nico got out from under Kristaps Porzingis’ contract as well as Davis Bertans’. His additions of P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford and the drafting of Dereck Lively II gave Dallas’ defense a backbone.
Nico’s most impressive feat? Turning around Kyrie’s career. The mercurial point guard arrived in Dallas with enough baggage to back up a D-FW carousel into next week, yet he’s become a team leader and fan favorite.
Amidst the Mavs’ rise, Nico was practically a ghost. He didn’t come out much, and when he did, he didn’t say anything of consequence. Most GMs puff up like peacocks when their teams win. Nico remained in the shadows, which gave him the cover he needed to further his agenda.
One of the first signs things were unraveling came with the dismissal of Casey Smith, the team’s highly respected athletic trainer. Also a close friend of Dirk’s as well as Luka. Other staff moves followed. An image developed behind the scenes of a “my-way-or-the-highway” boss.
Then came conspiratorial whispers about Luka’s conditioning, his defense, his stubbornness. Talk that Luka’s lifestyle left him with only a five-year window to win it all.
Even if the complaints had merit, they never rose to the level of trading an MVP-caliber player at 25. No one could have imagined a GM making such a mistake.
But what we learned about Nico over the last year or so is that he’s a “true believer” in the worst sense of the description. His style of management left no room for equivocation. Tolerated no dissent. Once committed, he was all-in, ramifications be damned.
Cuban tried to talk him out of trading Luka, but by then he’d learned Nico wasn’t the yes-man he thought he’d hired. Besides, it was no longer Cuban’s call. That responsibility fell to Dumont, who, at best, was too green to understand the magnitude of the error before him.
Or too consumed with the green he sees in a would-be casino.
Now that it’s done, the first job for interim co-GM Michael Finley, another Mavs icon, is to bring Dirk back into the fold. A hard get. The Mavs got rid of two of his favorite people. The organizational chart doesn’t look much like it did three years ago.
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Next, the Mavs need to figure out where this team is headed before the trade deadline and act accordingly. Package Anthony Davis and Klay Thompson for a first-round pick if it doesn’t pick up by then. Build a roster around Cooper Flagg. He’s not Luka, but then neither is AD or Kyrie or anyone who’s ever likely to pass this way again.
The Mavs finally conceded the mistake Tuesday. Doesn’t matter if they did it to stop the chants or turn the page or sell a casino. They did what had to be done. The bad news is, no matter what they do, Luka’s not coming back. The good news is, neither is Nico.
Twitter/X: @KSherringtonDMN
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