Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, now an analyst for Amazon Prime, recently weighed in on the team’s dismissal of head of basketball operations Nico Harrison (Twitter video link).
“Well, I think there’s just too many distractions, too much going on to keep going this way. This move should have probably happened this summer honestly,” Nowitzki said (hat tip to NBA insider Marc Stein). “I didn’t want this negative energy and this black cloud over the Cooper Flagg era, but here we are now.
“I just knew … I figured this fan base is a passionate and loyal fan base. I was lucky enough to experience it for 21 years. And I knew they weren’t (going to) just get over it, as people say, or forget about it. They’re extremely passionate.
“And this (Luka Doncic) trade just made no sense. It made no sense to (the fans). And, really, there was no explanation for it, either. You go to the (NBA) Finals the year before. You gave up all these assets to build, really, the team around Luka with some 6-9 wings that all can switch and guard. You had two lob threats with (Daniel) Gafford and (Dereck) Lively II and the team was built around him.
“You added Klay (Thompson) (when) the shooting was a little bit of an issue in the Finals against Boston. So you did all this. … Going into (the) Christmas Day game, they were 14-3 out of the last 17 games, so they’re just starting to hit their stride and then Luka gets hurt. And unfortunately that’s the last game he’s ever played in a Mavs uniform.
“It was very sad. It was very sad how that ended and it felt like … the fans feel like they got robbed of actually seeing the end, seeing this through, seeing Luka develop into hopefully a champion one day and it feels like they never got to see the end to this. So this was very heartbreaking.
“But now it’s time to move on. … Focus on this team, on this franchise. (The trade) definitely set the franchise back. But now it’s about building it back up. Obviously this team is struggling a bit, it needs the support all they can get. Hopefully we can have a good year here from now on and cheer the team up.”
Here’s more from Dallas:
- After the Lakers lost to the Thunder on Wednesday, Doncic was asked for his reaction to the firing of Harrison, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN relays. “The city of Dallas, the fans, the players, they’ll always have a special place in my heart,” Doncic said. “I thought I was going to stay there forever, but I didn’t. So that will always be a special place for me. I will always call it home. But right now, I’m focused on the Lakers and trying to move on. But obviously, always there will be a part of me there. But just trying to move on and focus on what I’m doing here.”
- Star big man Anthony Davis has been listed as questionable for each of the past four games, but he has yet to make his return from a left calf strain. League sources tell Stein that Davis won’t suit up again until the team’s medical staff informs governor Patrick Dumont that the 10-time All-Star has been fully cleared (Twitter link). Davis’ health status was reportedly a point of contention in the days leading up to Harrison’s dismissal.
- Although the Mavs were able to claw their way back into Friday’s double-overtime loss to the Clippers, excessive turnovers — they committed 25 in the game — proved too difficult to overcome, particularly in crunch time, writes Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal. “It’s something we’ve talked about,” head coach Jason Kidd said. “We have to address it. We have to do better if we want to win — being able to get a shot, and then you want to get a quality shot. The turnovers hurt us. In overtime we had turnovers where we didn’t get a shot.”
- After Friday’s game, Flagg admitted he feels more comfortable at his natural position of forward rather than running the point, which the No. 1 overall pick was asked to do to open the season. “Being a point guard comes with a lot of responsibility,” Flagg said, per Afseth. “I don’t know if I was ready for that right away. It doesn’t mean I can’t go back to it or improve… but lately it’s been better having someone else help with pressure.”
Mavs, Pelicans and Kings need to understand they are in West. There is zero chance they can make playoffs.
Trade AD, trade Kyrie, trade Zion, trade Sabonis
If these 3 teams were in East, they don’t need to make stars trades, they can still make playoffs
And Nico was the 2nd shooter in the grassy knoll.
The Doncic trade was a league set up! Luka to the Lakers to help make them dominate again while King Lebron was still capable.
In return the Mavs get a highly improbable first draft pick! Flagg for Doncic.
Anyone who doesn’t see this is totally ignorant!
This all points to the top! The commissioner, LBJ and Nico!
I wonder what his reward is in all of this corruption! He’s got to have some dirt on the others.
Tin foil hats and trash can lids for you missy!
When you have a franchise player you build around him and don’t make some weak excuse he is not healthy enough to play long term. Why would you trade for a guy who has injury issues and build around him? Its like they have done everything you can do wrong. let’s see how much patience they have with Flagg. Its going to take a few years where he becomes a top 10 player so will they wait? Pistons waited for Cunningham and look how well they are playing.
Seen a couple reports that Mavs what to move off AD and Klay which makes sense they are old and abit past it. They have a solid core and should be going younger around Cooper.
AD has always said he’d love to go to Chicago it’s where he grew up they love a hometown hero and they are also starting to win games because of Josh Giddey, it makes sense to atleast explore that.
They’d likely have to offer something like Vuce (expiring contract), Pat Williams, Coby White and maybe a first for AD and Hardy.
Pat Williams would be alright as a 3 ans D combo forward that would come off the bench but obviously Coby White would be the main draw. He’d be a good guard that could help them in the long run built around Cooper but also in the short term with Kyrie out, just someone that can run the offence, offer shooting, and is happy at either guard spot. It helps clear cap space and if you can get a first round pick back then it’s good business.
As for the Bulls, I’ve never liked the White Giddey fit together. Giddey is high usage and does a lot of rebounding and playmaking and this which takes the ball away from White and doesn’t let him shine as much. Giddey is better paired with a talented big man that can work with him in the pick and roll, but also shot the 3 and mid range stuff and also be a go to iso scorer and ball handler. I also like Hardy going to the bulls he’s a solid scoring threat that’s never got to many opportunities. With Buzelis as their main forward they’d have a nice guard-forward-centre line up and then be able to build off of that with the young team they have.
White Klay Cooper PJ Gafford
Dlo Christie Naji Williams Lively
Plus you’ll get Kyrie back possibly for a end of season/playoffs run.