Nico Harrison Doesn’t Think Mavericks Should Fire Him: ‘I Think I’ve Done A Really Good Job Here’

Nico Harrison doesn’t think the Dallas Mavericks should fire him. 

Yes, this is a real quote. 

Harrison traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis and Max Christie. The Mavericks missed the playoffs this year after making the NBA Finals last year, while Doncic and the Lakers are the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs. 

“Well one, I think I’ve done a really good job here,” Harrison said. “And I don’t think I can be judged by the injuries this year. You have to judge the totality, from beginning to end. I think I have a really good working relationship with Patrick (Dumont). I think you add in Rick (Weltz), the leadership that we have is really elite and you’ll see next year when our team comes back we’re gonna be competing for a championship.”

According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, Doncic’s camp and Harrison had a “frigid dynamic.”

Doncic appeared in 422 games with the Mavericks. He averaged 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists and made five All-Star teams and five All-NBA teams.

“Sources told ESPN that the frigid dynamic between Luka Doncic’s camp — led by Lara Beth Seager, who became Doncic’s business manager after being introduced to him by Dirk Nowitzki — and Nico Harrison and his new staff factored into the GM’s stunning decision to trade Doncic to the Lakers for Davis in February,” MacMahon wrote. 

Harrison has three years left on his contract. He told reporters last week during the closed-door media session that he doesn’t regret trading Doncic, who wanted to spend his entire career in Dallas. 

“Yeah, there’s no regrets on the trade,” Harrison said. “Part of my job is to do the best thing for the Mavericks, not only today, but also in the future. And some of the decisions I’m going to make are going to be unpopular, and that’s my job, and I have to stand by it. And one last thing, also add, every trade I’ve done has been met with high scrutiny, and so eventually I’ll earn the trust of this community that you know some of these trades are going to work out, and they have at a high-level.”