The Dallas Mavericks have moved on from Nico Harrison as their general manager. On Tuesday, he was relieved from his position as general manager. The Mavericks named former NBA star Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi as co-interim general managers as the organization searches for a replacement. Harrison became widely known for being the architect behind the Luka Doncic trade last season.
Since trading Doncic away to the Los Angeles Lakers, Harrison has been heavily criticized by experts and fans. Longtime supporters of the franchise started a nonstop protest to get the Mavericks to fire the executive. The Slovenian star was beloved by the fanbase and seeing him get traded was something out of the ordinary.
After trading Doncic for Anthony Davis, Harrison insisted that defense leads to championships. Unfortunately for the former front office employee, his plans won’t see the light of day. The 3-8 start to the 2025-26 season did not help, and injuries to Davis and Kyrie Irving. This led to his firing.
According to NBA insider Chris Haynes, Nico Harrison will step away from the spotlight for a while. Haynes reported that the former executive will take the time to look after himself and his family.
“He’s in good spirits, man. He’s going to take some time to be with himself and his family and just get away from everything. It’s been a tough situation,” Haynes reported.
Nico Harrison is going to take some time away to focus on himself and his family after dealing with a ‘tough situation’, per @ChrisBHaynes
“He’s in good spirits, man. He’s going to take some time to be with himself and his family and just get away from everything. It’s been a… pic.twitter.com/hBGPig8iW8
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) November 13, 2025
Harrison was appointed general manager of the Mavericks in 2021. During his time, the team reached the Western Conference finals twice and the NBA Finals once. But after it, the team did not see any more success.
Cooper Flagg speaks on Nico Harrison’s firing
One of the bright spots in Nico Harrison’s tenure as general manager was securing a potential franchise player in Cooper Flagg. The Mavericks earned the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft and used it to choose the former Duke star. On Wednesday’s 123-114 loss to the Phoenix Suns, Flagg spoke about Harrison’s firing for the first time.
“It’s about basketball,” Flagg said. “He seemed like a really great guy… At the end of the day, I’m here to play basketball. Whatever goes on above me, it’s above me. I can’t worry about it too much. Just going to keep trying to show up and be who I am and try and get better every single day.”
Amid the drama that started from Harrison’s firing, the Mavericks can focus on developing the rookie forward. Through his first 12 games, he has averaged 15.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
