The gamble to send away Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis and the chance to ‘win now’ has not paid off, and Nico Harrison has now paid the price. According to NBA insider Shams Charania, the Dallas Mavericks have fired their general manager, who chose to trade away the team’s superstar at the previous deadline.
There was hope for Harrison after the Mavericks landed the first overall pick and selected top prospect Cooper Flagg. However, 11 games into the 2025-26 NBA season, things have not been going well in Dallas, and now Harrison is gone.
In the wake of the news, Cooper Flagg’s mom, Kelly Flagg, sent a message on team governor Patrick Dumont’s decision to let Harrison go. She reposted someone’s message on X about how the general manager had been a major issue within the team and needed to be fired.
“Nico Harrison is a huge distraction and stain on the franchise until he is fired,” part of the original post read. “Get rid of him as soon as possible so we can all move forward.”
Kelly Flagg On The Mavericks Firing Nico Harrison
Though the initial news of her repost made headlines, hours later, Flagg made a separate post on X saying that she wasn’t meaning to imply the team should have fired Harrison, but rather that the players should be subject to constant “Fire Nico!” heard around the arena and city over the past few months.
“Retweet wasn’t about firing Nico. It was about the fact that the fans were chanting during our free throws. Our guys had nothing to do with what went down,” she wrote, referring to the initial backlash Harrison received for the Doncic-Davis trade in February. “It’s done now so we all need to move on. Hopefully better days ahead.”
While parents, spouses, siblings, or anyone else getting involved in the inner workings of their family member’s team isn’t new, Flagg having a direct response to the biggest NBA news of the week comes as a surprise. However, according to multiple other league insiders, the ‘Fire Nico!’ chants were becoming an issue for Mavericks players, not just Flagg and his mom.
“Heard several Mavs players this season have preferred to play on road rather than playing home games due to the charged atmosphere as it related to Nico Harrison,” SNY’s Ian Begley wrote right after Charania broke the news of Harrison’s impending firing. “They weren’t passing judgment on fans, moreso having human reaction to atmosphere. Mavs have played 7 of 10 at home.”
The chants were heard during the draft, summer league, preseason, and all throughout the first 11 games of Dallas’ season. With a 3-8 record, Dumont made the decision to end Harrison’s tenure after nearly four and a half years as general manager, the obvious signal of a failed experiment.
Cooper Flagg’s Rookie Season Just Got Even Shakier
In the middle of all of this is the Mavericks’ rookie Cooper Flagg. While Harrison and Dallas did make the move to trade Doncic and bring in Davis, the team getting the first overall pick in Flagg was seen as an initial sign of a good future for the team.
However, that has not yet been the case, and while Flagg is still developing and the Mavericks are dealing with numerous injuries, the team has not gotten back to the same form they were with Doncic.
Dallas has wins over only the Raptors, Pacers, and Wizards. Flagg is averaging a solid 15 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists on 42.1% shooting, but the team is second-to-last in the West, with minimal hope of a playoff appearance this year.
He did have his best professional game in the Mavericks’ most recent loss against the Bucks, finishing with 26 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and two steals on 60% shooting. However, the team still lacks a true point guard with Kyrie Irving out, and while Flagg has taken up the ball-handling and play-making role, he hasn’t gotten off to as effective a start as many expected.
Flagg is third among rookies in scoring, first in rebounding, fifth in assists, and third in steals. But the recent shakeup in the front office isn’t a good sign for a team that was expected to make the playoffs with its mix-and-matched cast of characters.
Flagg already had an uphill battle on this Mavericks team, and that hill just got steeper with Harrison being fired.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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