Mac Engel: Mavericks' Patrick Dumont had no choice. He had to fire Nico Harrison.

FORT WORTH, Texas — “Fire Nico” is now “Nico is Fired.”

The morning after watching his team play in person for the first time this season, Dallas Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont fired general manager Nico Harrison on Tuesday. The move concludes one of the most bizarre situations not just in Dallas-Fort Worth sports history, but all of North American professional sports.

The trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers was completed on Feb. 1, and nine months later the genius behind that deal is out of a job. Dumont had no choice but to fire a GM whose presence was a defining point of a franchise that wants to build a new arena in downtown Dallas.

This is one of the few times in pro sports where the fans made the call.

“I did know Luka was important to the fan base,” Harrison said during a press conference back in May. “I didn’t know quite to what level.”

Safe to say he knows now.

“This decision reflects our continued commitment to building a championship-caliber organization, one that delivers for our players, our partners, and most importantly, our fans,” Dumont said in a statement.

Mavericks staffers welcome the exit; according to people familiar with the situation over the past two years, Harrison had become a reviled figure within the organization.

The Mavericks are 3-8, and one of the worst teams in the NBA. Team executives Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi will lead basketball operations on an interim basis.

Dumont didn’t know what he was doing when he OK’d a trade that devalued his franchise immediately. The only thing he can do now is to move forward with rookie Cooper Flagg.

Harrison’s rise and collapse

The fall of Harrison is full of hubris. It just so happened to derail a franchise.

If anyone should have known the hierarchy of a pro basketball team, and that the NBA is a player’s league, it was Nico Harrison.

For years, Harrison was an executive with Nike who had been sought after by NBA teams to be their general manager. He was well liked, and his relationships with top players, and their agents, were traits that NBA teams wanted.

In June 2021, former Mavs owner Mark Cuban hired Harrison to be his GM. The next season, the team reached the Western Conference finals.

One detail Harrison quickly learned about serving as the Mavs GM is that his power was going to be limited by the owner. Cuban loved basketball, and wanted to be involved in basketball decisions.

In February 2023, Harrison traded for Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving, a deal that was justifiably questioned given the player’s personality. It took a year, but adding Irving worked for the Mavericks.

In December of that year, Cuban sold the majority of the Mavericks to Dumont, with the understanding that Cuban would still make the basketball decisions. Harrison wanted no part of that agreement, and successfully eliminated Cuban from the power structure.

In June 2024, when the Mavericks reached the NBA Finals, Dumont announced multiyear contract extensions with coach Jason Kidd and Harrison.

“Nico Harrison has demonstrated his leadership and capabilities in the Dallas Mavericks organization,” Dumont said in a press release. “His vision, along with his efforts on behalf of our players and staff have propelled our team to two playoff appearances in three seasons. ... We are proud to have him as part of our team for the long term, and we are excited to watch him continue to build on the foundation of success he has helped establish.”

Shortly thereafter, Harrison’s relationship with Doncic went to the toilet. Doncic didn’t fit Harrison’s vision, and the two didn’t like each other.

“I worked at Nike for 20 years, and superstars have teams around them, and you have to cater to them and that’s part of the job, and they’ve earned it,” Harrison said during a press conference in May. “I can work with anybody.”

Anybody didn’t include Doncic. In February, Harrison traded Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a future first-round draft pick.

According to multiple sources, other than Dumont, Harrison told no one of the deal until minutes before he made it official. Those directly affected by it were blindsided, and irate.

Dumont was surprised by the proposal, but approved it because he empowered his basketball GM to run his basketball team.

The fan reaction has no precedent.

‘Now what?’ for the Mavericks

Harrison wanted to build a team around Davis, Irving and other players. Davis can’t stay healthy, and Irving is recovering from an ACL injury he sustained in March.

Ten years ago, Irving and Davis would have been one helluva pair. Today? They’re both in their 30s, and they get injured a lot.

Despite horrendous odds, the Mavs won the lottery, which resulted in drafting Flagg. During a press conference to introduce Flagg, Harrison took every Nike shoe he’s ever owned and shoved them in his mouth when he said, “I think the fans will finally start to see the vision.”

Doncic? Don’t ask. He “lost the weight,” and is killing it for the Lakers. The Mavericks will never live this one down. They’re a joke.

The Mavs’ secondary players were added to complement Doncic, who creates space for teammates as well as any player alive.

The Mavs have a first-round draft pick in 2026, and the way the season is going that will be another lottery selection. Maybe they will win the lottery again.

The team is now Cooper Flagg’s, who is the youngest player in the NBA.

Maybe the new GM will know enough not to trade him when he’s in the prime of his career.