That 3-7 record is the second-worst mark in the West, ahead of only the disastrous New Orleans Pelicans \u2026 who, um, beat the Mavs last week<\/a>. The Mavs rank 29th in the NBA in offensive efficiency<\/a>, ahead of only the woeful Indiana Pacers \u2026 who, um, came within a misfired wide-open Aaron Nesmith 3-pointer<\/a> of beating the Mavs a week and a half ago.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Like those Pacers<\/a>, these Mavericks are playing without their All-NBA point guard. Without either of them, in fact. One, Kyrie Irving, remains in street clothes, recovering from a torn left ACL<\/a>.<\/p>\n The other? Well, as you might remember, Harrison traded him to Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n That combination of Dallas\u2019 punchlessness, with No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg struggling to shoulder a star-level shot-creation burden<\/a>, and Luka Don\u010di\u0107\u2019s scorching start<\/a>, leading the Lakers to a 7-3 record as the primary initiator of a top-10 offense \u2014 all while Don\u010di\u0107 trade return\/expected cornerstone Anthony Davis yet again misses time<\/a> \u2014 has both the chants<\/a> and the chatter surrounding Harrison\u2019s job security getting louder and louder. As veteran NBA insider Marc Stein put it<\/a>, \u201cIf Harrison’s position as the team’s lead decision-maker is not yet untenable, well, you can certainly see that status from here.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n From Stein<\/a>:<\/p>\n League sources tell The Stein Line that the rising and virtually ceaseless negativity that surrounds the franchise is indeed wearing on and troubling ownership.<\/p>\n While [Mavericks owner Patrick] Dumont seemingly prefers to give Harrison more time, contemplating whether an in-season change is the wisest course for the Mavericks to try to forge ahead post-Don\u010di\u0107 has become unavoidable at the highest levels of the organization [\u2026]<\/p>\n If Dumont eventually concludes that a mid-stream change is the best course \u2014 while it is by no means clear at this juncture where the Mavericks would turn in terms of a long-term successor \u2014 it’s believed that step would be taken not only for its vibe shift potential and as a means to try to win back alienated fans \u2026 but also based on the premise that the front office executive who conceived and pushed for the widely criticized Don\u010di\u0107 deal can no longer be the one trying to pilot the organization past it.<\/p>\n Stein\u2019s not the only plugged-in reporter in Dallas sounding the alarm. On Monday\u2019s episode of the Brian Windhorst and the Hoop Collective podcast<\/a>, ESPN\u2019s Tim MacMahon said, \u201cAt this point, I believe it is a matter of when, not if, Nico Harrison will be fired. And there is a very, very strong likelihood that [it] will be midseason.\u201d<\/p>\n Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison addresses the media in June at the Dallas Mavericks’ practice facility. (Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect \/ Reuters)<\/p>\n Such an ouster would mark a downright astonishing speed run for Harrison \u2014 from the verge of the NBA\u2019s promised land, as the architect of a conference champion, to potentially out of the league in a year and a half.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just the long tail of the Luka trade with which Harrison has to contend, either.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The decision to import Klay Thompson on a three-year, $50 million deal<\/a> following the 2024 NBA Finals has not panned out. The 35-year-old is shooting 31.6% from the field and 26.4% from 3-point range on the season, prompting head coach Jason Kidd to move the former All-Star to the bench<\/a> in favor of D\u2019Angelo Russell.<\/p>\n Kidd felt compelled to make the move not only because of Thompson\u2019s individual struggles, but because of how brutally inoperable the Mavericks\u2019 offense was proving to be with Irving on the shelf and with Flagg, an 18-year-old playing point guard for the first time in his life<\/a>, floundering on the ball in the absence of an established professional point guard. Russell, the stopgap answer that Harrison signed in free agency, is shooting just 37.5% from the field and 27.5% from 3-point land himself. He has scored 24 points in 54 minutes across three games since being moved into the starting five; the Mavericks have been outscored by 57 points in those 54 minutes<\/a>.<\/p>\n With Dallas looking for players capable of both providing consistent 3-point shooting and potentially taking on a larger share of the ball-handling responsibilities, you know who it might be nice to have around? Quentin Grimes, who showed signs of having more to his offensive game late last season and has gotten off to a great start to this one \u2014 17.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 31 minutes per game, shooting 56% on 2-pointers and 40% on 3-pointers while taking more than six per game.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Alas: Grimes is doing that in Philadelphia, because that\u2019s where Harrison sent him at the 2025 trade deadline<\/a>, in exchange for Caleb Martin \u2014 who dealt with hip injuries down the stretch of last season and has played all of 72 minutes for the Mavericks thus far this season, with more personal fouls (13) than points scored (12).<\/p>\n Harrison made that move in part to rebalance Dallas\u2019 roster. Thanks to bringing in Max Christie as part of the Luka\/AD trade, Dallas suddenly had multiple 3-and-D two-guards, and Christie was under a guaranteed contract for two more seasons<\/a> while Grimes was about to hit restricted free agency. (Grimes wound up signing his one-year, $8.7 million qualifying offer<\/a> to stay with Philly.) Christie has played well in Dallas \u2014 13.1 points in 29.9 minutes per game on 50\/46\/81 shooting splits this season \u2014 but doesn\u2019t profile as the kind of playmaker capable of stepping into a more significant on-ball role for a team in desperate need of more creators.<\/p>\n Not the same kind of playmaker as, say, Austin Reaves \u2014 his former Lakers teammate, whom Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka kept out of the Luka\/AD trade talks, and whose absence from them some<\/a> pundits<\/a> categorized as malpractice on Harrison\u2019s part. Reaves finished last season as one of 10 players in the NBA<\/a> to average at least 20 points and five assists per game on .600 true shooting; earlier this season, when Don\u010di\u0107 was sidelined by knee and finger ailments, Reaves averaged 40 points and 10 assists over a three-game stretch<\/a>.<\/p>\n [Get more Mavs news: Dallas team feed<\/a>]<\/p>\n On one hand, Harrison is bearing the brunt of a brutal run of injuries in Dallas; there aren\u2019t many teams that would be in particularly great shape when playing without their first-choice point guard, power forward and center. (Dereck Lively II has missed seven games with a knee injury, while Daniel Gafford missed five with an ankle sprain.) On the other, this was always the downside risk of the roster that Harrison constructed.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Building around Davis and Irving, both of whom have missed significant time to injuries in multiple seasons, put the Mavs in a precarious position should one or both pick up a knock. Devoting nearly 70% of the salary cap to Davis, Irving and Thompson left the Mavs with precious little flexibility to add complementary talent capable of scaling up in time of need. And by responding to the Finals loss to the Celtics by leaning so heavily in the direction of size and defense, Harrison left the team light on shooting and playmaking.<\/p>\n Despite entering Monday\u2019s matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks ranked fifth in defensive efficiency<\/a>, the Mavs have been one of the worst teams in the NBA. Defense might win championships<\/a>, but only if you\u2019ve got an offensive engine powerful enough to get that defense deep into the playoffs and give it a chance. Without Luka or Kyrie, Harrison doesn\u2019t have that \u2026 and, from the sound of it, that\u2019s not the only thing he doesn\u2019t have anymore.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter that Luka trade, Patrick Dumont, one of his infamous quotes was, \u2018In Nico we trust,\u2019\u201d MacMahon said<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m just telling you: The trust has disintegrated at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n That lack of trust reared its head, according to MacMahon, in the decision over whether to clear Davis to return from his left calf strain over the weekend.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Davis, MacMahon said, had been ramping up in anticipation of playing Saturday in Washington. After some \u201cinternal disagreement\u201d over whether it would be a good idea to get Davis \u2014 who has played in only 14 of Dallas\u2019 43 regular-season games since the trade \u2014 back on the floor so quickly, with Dumont reportedly getting involved in the discussion, the All-Star big man wound up missing the win over the Wizards. He\u2019s listed as questionable against the Bucks on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cPatrick Dumont went from blind faith in Nico to now weighing in on whether a star can come back from injury,\u201d MacMahon said.<\/p>\n That invites a follow-up question: If Dumont has reached the point of not trusting the way Harrison\u2019s front office navigates something like a player\u2019s return-to-play protocol \u2014 to say nothing of the evaluations, negotiations and decision-making that have led Dallas to sink like a stone in the standings \u2014 then why would he trust Harrison to steer the Mavericks through February\u2019s trade deadline? Or, for that matter, through the 2026 NBA Draft \u2014 which, thanks to the Harrison-helmed moves that brought in Grant Williams<\/a>, Irving<\/a>, P.J. Washington<\/a> and Gafford<\/a>, will be the last time the Mavs have full control of their first-round pick until 2031?<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n![\"Jun](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/40bf33b0-be57-11f0-bc2f-c63e611088d8.jpeg\"\/)
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