Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Carmelo Anthony shouts out Nico Harrison for Cooper Flagg winning ROY 💀 "Shout out to Nico Harrison for seeing this right here. For understanding his vision. Whatever happened or how it happened, Dallas got something back. They got the #1 pick and a rookie who led the squad in PTS, REB, AST, and STL. MJ is the only person to do that so when you talk about Cooper's ceiling as a young face of the league. It's Cooper Flagg"
Carmelo Anthony shouts out Nico Harrison for Cooper Flagg winning ROY 💀
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) April 27, 2026
"Shout out to Nico Harrison for seeing this right here. For understanding his vision. Whatever happened or how it happened, Dallas got something back. They got the #1 pick and a rookie who led the squad in… pic.twitter.com/Bg9qyrANsv
Anthony Davis: So when Rich said I was traded to Dallas, I was like the f*ck out of here. I saidwho the f*ck they gonna trade me for? Luka Doncic? I was just saying like who else can you trade me for on that team? Mind you, the Mavs just went to the finals. And it was never no discussion about like man, we might get AD out of here or… it was nothing. And he was like, “They traded you for Luka.” I'm like "Rich, shut the hell up. What? Like, shut what do you want?" I'm really thinking he's just playing. And he was like, "Man, I swear." And at the time, like, Nico Harrison is calling me. So, I'm like, "All right, Rich, I'mma call you back. Let me see what Nico… And I'm like, "Rich, I'mma call you back." Hello. Yeah, ‘I told you I was going to come get you one day. I wanted you.’ Huh? I'm still like, "All right, I know Rich and Nico like, y'all playing a joke." Like, this is foul play. Foul play. Got you. So, I'm like, "Huh?" So, I tell Nico, I didn't even speak. I said, "Yo, let me call you back." So now I'm like, "All right, I'm about to call Rob Pelinka back." So I call Rob back and I'm like, "Hello." He’s telling me all this stuff and like, basically, that I got traded for Luka, and some of the stuff he was saying, I didn't understand. ‘You know, when Bron's done, we want somebody to take over, we want to go younger, rebuild all this…’ And I'm like, "Huh?" I just didn't understand like what he was saying. But also too, like as I'm hearing this, I'm now like checked out. Like I hear you, but I'm not listening, right? And hang up. And my chef is right there in front of me. And I'm like, I just got traded to the Mavs. He starts laughing. ‘Yeah, big dog.’ So I'm like, you know what? I know this true. I go to X and go straight to Sham Charania’s page. Nothing, yeah they playing. So I'm walking out the kitchen, turning the corner to go up the stairs. Joel Embiid calls me. He’s in Philly, 12 o’clock. I don't answer, I’m going upstairs, then somebody else calls me, another player and I'm like wait hold on. So, I go back to Sham’s page and then there it is. Breaking news: Dallas Mavericks trade Luka Doncic. And I'm like, what? Run upstairs, say baby, I just got traded to Dallas. Shut up. But now this time I'm not shaking, but my heart is in my stomach. I'm like, yo, what the f*ck just happened? Right. And I show her and she's like, "What the hell?" But now I'm like, "All right, I'm running back outside. The first person I call my pop like, "Yo, pop, I just got traded."
Internal candidates Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley — Dallas’ co-interim general managers since Nico Harrison’s firing in November — are under consideration to get the job. But the Mavericks, league sources said, also have ambitions of going big-game hunting. Team governor Patrick Dumont successfully persuaded NBA Hall of Famer Rick Welts to come out of retirement to run the Mavericks’ business side in one of his first major moves in charge of the team. The Athletic has reported since February that Dumont will target experienced, proven talent to run Dallas’ basketball side, as well.
Internal candidates Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley — Dallas’ co-interim general managers since Nico Harrison’s firing in November — are under consideration to get the job. But the Mavericks, league sources said, also have ambitions of going big-game hunting. Team governor Patrick Dumont successfully persuaded NBA Hall of Famer Rick Welts to come out of retirement to run the Mavericks’ business side in one of his first major moves in charge of the team. The Athletic has reported since February that Dumont will target experienced, proven talent to run Dallas’ basketball side, as well. But league insiders wonder if Dumont will be able to lure one of his top targets — and how he might pivot if he’s unsuccessful.
Advertisement
Tim MacMahon on Mark Cuban: He's he knows he's not buying the Mavs back. It's going to go the other way. Adelson and Dumont families can buy 20% more of Cuban shares, get them down to 7%, that's going to happen. Cuban's frustrated because he thought he was going to get back in at least the room in terms of you know basketball decision-making and Dumont listened to him as far as like the lobbying to fire Nico Harrison, and there was a meeting where Cuban was in the room and then Cuban realized damn I'm really not going to have any say. Like they really don't want to hear what I have to say. So Cuban's mad.
Kidd’s initial rhetorical question could have been meant for Mavsland in general, but, clearly, it mostly was directed at Cuban, whom Kidd said he phoned Tuesday after the Intersections podcast’s release. During the podcast, Cuban expressed regret for selling the franchise to the Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont families in Dec. 2023 and criticized general manager Nico Harrison’s Feb. 1, 2025 trade of Doncic. Then suddenly, briefly, he injected Kidd into the conversation. “That doesn’t justify it for our coach and our general manager to stand up and trade our best player.”
NBA Base: Mark Cuban admits hiring Nico Harrison was a mistake: Q: “Do you regret [hiring Nico Harrison]?” Mark Cuban: “Yeah… it was a mistake.” (Via @adam_talkshow)
Mark Cuban admits hiring Nico Harrison was a mistake:
— NBA Base (@TheNBABase) March 12, 2026
Q: “Do you regret [hiring Nico Harrison]?”
Mark Cuban: “Yeah… it was a mistake.”
(Via @adam_talkshow) pic.twitter.com/MnFbDz0Rp9
Draymond Green: “So many people crushed Nico for the reasons that he gave. When Nico gave those reasons everybody said he’s ridiculous, he’s crazy. Now when I turn on the tv all I see is media who crushed Nico which essentially aided in him getting fired, regurgitating the same things that Nico Harrison was saying. I haven’t seen one person come out and say ‘hey Nico, I’m sorry for the things I said about you when you made those moves because I just said the same things out of my mouth.’ This has nothing to do with Luka and everything to do with the media and Nico Harrison. Nico gave his reasoning as why he thought that was the right move. Everybody said ‘you’re a f*cking idiot”
Before becoming the general manager and vice president of basketball operations for the Dallas Mavericks, Nico Harrison worked at Nike for 19 years. He supervised Nike's basketball brand managers and worked closely with Kobe Bryant since the Lakers guard signed with Nike in 2003. Of the Air Jordan 19 campaign, Harrison told ESPN, "I remember the snakes. I remember the [Tech Flex] technology. And I don't remember the ad." He said no one from Nike or Jordan Brand had ever mentioned it or the campaign to him or, to his knowledge, to Bryant. Another source who worked closely with Bryant for many years said Bryant had no knowledge of the black mamba connection to Jordan.
Advertisement
All the above commentary from Nowitzki was inspired by the Nov. 11 firing of Harrison, who has not spoken publicly since his dismissal. I reached out to him to this week to share that I was doing a One Year Later piece in hopes of getting a quote or two. We indeed connected but he declined comment.
Finally, regarding your future: A few months ago, Nico Harrison was dismissed as General Manager of the Dallas Mavericks. Your name keeps coming up in the media as a possible successor. Is that something you currently consider? Dirk Nowitzki: I don't think the GM role is something I'm considering right now. I always thought that when I retired, I'd immediately move into management with the Mavericks. However, the longer I was out of the business after my playing career ended, the less interesting it became to me. I think it's an incredibly intense job, 24/7, all year round. When the season is over for players and coaches and they take a break, the work for GMs just keeps going with the draft, free agency, and trade deadlines. It's an absolute full-time job that I couldn't imagine doing right now. I like my life the way it is right now. I enjoy having things going on with my roles at Prime and the FIBA Players' Committee, but I also still have plenty of time for my family and children. That's why I don't see a GM role in my immediate future.
Zach Lowe: I do expect the Bucks to try to buy and if they continue that stance for another month. When Dallas fired Nico Harrison and I went through all the fake Anthony Davis trades, I said right away, you've got to look at teams that are desperate to win and underperforming and can bundle some expiring salary. And I said like I'd look at the Bucks. I'd look at the Clippers for Anthony Davis and I still would for those reasons. But to me, if the Bucks continue on this stance of bye bye-bye, they're just a lock to end up with one of these sort of distressed high leverage high salary players like a Zach LaVine, Michael Porter Jr., I mentioned AD.
The Dallas Mavericks remain unlikely to name Nico Harrison’s permanent successor for several more months, according to league sources. Finley and Riccardi will operate as co-GMs through the trade deadline