Mavericks Fire GM Nico Harrison Months After Dončić Trade

The Mavericks have fired GM Nico Harrison nine months after the blockbuster Luka Dončić trade, the team announced Tuesday.

Dallas owner Patrick Dumont met with Harrison at 10 a.m. CT and informed Harrison of the decision to let him go, according to ESPN. Harrison had two years remaining on his contract after he signed a multiyear extension in June 2024. 

Dumont also sent an open letter to Mavericks fans, saying the decision to part ways with Harrison was “critical to moving our franchise forward in a positive direction.”

“No one associated with the Mavericks organization is happy with the start of what we all believe would be a promising season. You have high expectations for the Mavericks, and I share them with you. When the results don’t meet expectations, it’s my responsibility to act. I’ve made the decision to part ways with General Manager Nico Harrison,” Dumont said.

He also thanked the Mavericks fans for holding the organization “accountable.”

“You deserve transparency and a team that reflects your spirit. Our goal is to return winning basketball to Dallas and win championships,” Dumont said.

Harrison, a former top executive at Nike, joined the Mavericks in 2021. He stayed at the helm amid an ownership transition in late 2023, when Mark Cuban sold a majority stake in the team to Miriam Adelson, the widow of casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson. Dumont is Adelson’s son-in-law. 

The team had an 182–157 record over four plus seasons under Harrison, including a run to the 2024 NBA Finals, the franchise’s first Finals appearance since 2011. But his Mavericks tenure will forever be linked to trading Dončić, then a 25-year-old with five All-NBA First Team appearances, less than a year after making the Finals.

The Mavericks also announced the appointment of assistant GMs Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi to lead basketball operations in the interim. According to Marc Stein, who has long covered the Mavericks, some members of the organization wanted to bring back Dennis Lindsey, who advised Harrison in 2023–24 before leaving for Detroit.

Mavericks fans have been calling for Harrison’s ouster since the Dončić trade—whom the franchise drafted in 2018—to the Lakers in February for a package including Anthony Davis.

Fans at the American Airlines Center constantly chanted “Fire Nico” in the final three months of the 2024–25 season. That chant has continued this season, including in the fourth quarter of a loss to the Bucks on Monday as the Mavericks fell to 3–8, second to last in the Western Conference.

Harrison said after the trade that he believed the team was “built to win now and in the future.” He envisioned a team built around Davis and Kyrie Irving, two veteran stars who have won championships.

But a month after the trade, Irving tore his ACL and has yet to play this season. Davis, who has a track record for struggling to stay healthy, was injured in his Mavericks debut last season. He has played just five games so far this year with a calf injury.

Meanwhile, Dončić and the Lakers are one of the top four teams in the West after opening the season with an 8–3 record.

Reports had surfaced this week that Harrison was on the hot seat. Those reports were amplified after Nicholas Dickason, an 18-year-old fan in a Dončić Lakers jersey seen speaking to Dumont courtside before Monday’s game, said the Mavericks owner expressed regret about the trade.

“Basically Patrick was like, he feels horrible for the trade. And wants to make it up to us,” Dickason said, according to The Athletic.