Mark Cuban has been exactly where Nico Harrison is right now with Dallas Mavericks fans after trading Luka Doncic.
Nico Harrison could do a thousand things right as GM for the Dallas Mavericks for the rest of his tenure there. But the fanbase is unlikely to ever forgive him for trading Luka Doncic.
Many believed Nico Harrison would lose his job for trading Doncic. Especially after Nico’s plan backfired after Kyrie Irving suffered an ACL injury.
But since then, the Mavericks struck gold, landing the #1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and selecting Cooper Flagg to be their next franchise star.
The Mavericks may have turned their fortunes around, but many fans still resent Nico for trading away a once-in-a-generation franchise player in Doncic.
However, while former Mavs majority owner Mark Cuban disagreed with Harrison trading Doncic, he still has full confidence in the GM. And he also empathizes with him, given that he once made a similar decision that backfired.
Mark Cuban confident in Nico Harrison, references disastrous Steve Nash trade
Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban spoke to SiriusXM NBA Radio during an interview at the Summer League. In his comments, he gave his stamp of approval to Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison.
While he didn’t agree with Nico’s decision to trade Luka Doncic, he understands that decisions can be tough. He referenced his own controversial decision to trade Steve Nash to the Phoenix Suns, and how that caused Mavericks fans to turn on him.
“Trades are trades. I let Steve Nash go, and the whole town hated my a** for a long time. Like not a little bit… He wins two MVPs, and I got nothing back for him, right?
“Not every decision is one everybody’s going to agree with, but there’s a lot more to being a general manager, and particularly now with the new CBA and the second apron.
“Trying to put together a team, and being able to keep together a team, is a lot harder.”
Mark Cuban believes Nico Harrison is following OKC Thunder blueprint
Mark Cuban further elaborated on how Nico Harrison is building the team similar to the OKC Thunder. The annual increase in the salary cap allows the Mavericks to build a roster through long-term extensions.
“You saw what OKC did, which was smart. They signed all those guys now, and people are like, ‘How can you sign all these guys to money?’
“Well, they signed it now because the cap is as low as it is going to be for a while and they know it’s going to go up 10 percent a year, so it kinda positions them well.
“Nico’s done the same thing. We’ve got guys, everybody but P.J. [Washington] is on an extended contract. So we’re gonna keep on having more and more room because those contracts are locked in.”
Despite Harrison not being a popular figure among Mavericks fans, he has done some strong work over the last few weeks.
Extending Kyrie Irving on a lower salary was huge for the Mavericks. With Irving set to return later in the 2025-26 NBA season, the hope is that Anthony Davis and Cooper Flagg can keep the team competitive by the time he comes back.
Doing so would give the Mavericks a serious chance at competing for an NBA championship next season.
