The good vibes from the Mavericks‘ draft lottery win in the spring haven’t carried over to the regular season. After consecutive losses to open the year, fans in Dallas are already chanting ‘Fire Nico!’ Those chants, referring to president of basketball operations Nico Harrison, filled American Airlines Center during their 10-point loss to the rebuilding Wizards on Friday, Tim MacMahon of ESPN writes.
“I think they have a right to vent, but there’s a patience [needed],” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “It’s a different team. It’s a new team. We’re just getting to understand each other. We’re going to keep learning each other. “So I would say be patient, but I understand the frustration. We all want to win. We all want to compete at a high level, but it’s a game of expression, and fans have a right to express themselves. But that doesn’t stop us from coming to work tomorrow and getting better and getting ready for Sunday [against Toronto].”
Kidd recently received a multiyear extension but there have not been any discussions about a contract extension for Harrison, according to MacMahon. Harrison has two years remaining on his deal.
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- Victor Wembanyama came close to a triple-double in the Spurs’ overtime win over New Orleans on Friday with 29 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocks, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News notes. Wembanyama’s big performance came two nights after a 40-point, 15-rebound outburst in the Spurs’ 125-92 season-opening blowout of Dallas. That performance awed this year’s top pick, the Mavs’ Cooper Flagg. “He is incredible. He is a different player,” Flagg said, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN. “You can’t know what it’s like until you’re out there on the court with him. It’s something I’ve never seen before. He was great tonight, but we’ve got to do a better job of trying to just take away some of his looks, and we can’t foul him as much as we did.”
- Pelicans first-rounders Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen are already playing meaningful minutes, as Rod Walker of NOLA.com writes. They were on the floor during the final minutes of regulation and most of overtime against the Spurs. Queen played 35 minutes and finished with 15 points, six rebounds and two blocks. Fears played 29 minutes and had 13 points, four rebounds, two steals and an assist. “I saw a lot of poise from both guys at the end of the game, throughout the whole game really,” Pelicans’ coach Willie Green said. “You can tell they want it.”
- The Pelicans’ performances this season after major roster renovations will go a long way in determining how Joe Dumars’ tenure as the lead executive plays out, Walker opines. “Before you can get to the playoffs or a certain amount of wins, the first thing you have to get to is, ‘We compete hard every night,’” Dumars said. “If you don’t establish that in your building first, you’re just talking. You’re just giving quotes out at that point. For me, it’s a process of establishing a hard, competitive playing team every night. Then we will get to the wins and losses.”
Spurs have looked really good. Harrison Barnes is older and probably needs around 20-25 mins to be most effective. Castle looks great. Think Fox coming back will help him a lot with less responsibility. Kornet looks really good. I would like to see more of him and wemby together. Harper looks really good as well. Adding a knockdown 3 point shooter would help this group a lot. They are flying around and playing hard. This should be a great year. The West is going to be crazy this year.
It’s almost like they could have drafted knockdown shooters in this year’s draft instead of a third point guard
Castle is best as a 2 guard. Harper looks special. Any chance you get to get special players you don’t complain about it.
Vassell Barnes and Champagnie are out there for their 3 pt shot. No need to add another when you take into account that the first 3 bigs (Kornet, Olynyk and Wemby) are very capable of shooting it from deep. It will be interesting to see how many minutes sochan can take off of Justin and harisson without killing the spacing.
Can’t wait for fox to get in on all of this action! I hope Harper can somehow stay above 20 minutes per game. His shooting form looks good enough!
Its amazing when you play a PG offense. And it’s so glaringly obvious you don’t have One lols. Solid PG play is a real thing. Too many folks here don’t get that. Flagg will be a great player one day. You don’t come in as a 19 yr old rookie. And think you can play any position. No sir …..
Wemby is back ……. good to see
Bulls and Hawks both needed real bigs. Real 4s. Yet both passed on Queen. He is going to be special. Queen already has NBA size. Fears I would go easier with. He is only 19. He is a nice pick too. Pelicans had excellent draft.
Murray is a player Pelicans could eventually move this year. They don’t have a pick next year. Rockets should be monitoring Murray.
Victor had 10 blocks – it was ridiculous that he didn’t get credit for one. Spurs broadcast thought so as well.