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- The Dallas Mavericks have fired GM Nico Harrison
- Harrison’s firing comes after the Mavs traded superstar Luka Doncic in February
- The Mavs are controlled by the family ownership group of Las Vegas Sands
The NBA Dallas Mavericks have parted ways with General Manager Nico Harrison. His firing comes less than a year after he shocked the sports world by trading the league’s 2024 scoring champion and five-time NBA All-Star Luka Doncic.
Nico Harrison is no longer the general manager of the NBA Dallas Mavericks. Harrison was involved in one of sports’ most shocking recent trades when the Mavs agreed to send Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. (Image: NBA.com)In June 2021, the Mavs, then under the control of billionaire Mark Cuban, poached Harrison from Nike, where he developed shoe lines for NBA superstars, to become the team’s GM. Harrison’s tenure was largely a success, as the Mavericks reached the Western Conference finals twice and the NBA Finals a year ago.
In February 2025, Harrison decided shipping Doncic, with whom he repeatedly butted heads regarding his off-court work ethic and conditioning, as well as his defense, was in the Mavs’ long-term best interests. Harrison reportedly convinced Patrick Dumont, the president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands, and the son-in-law of Sands’ controlling stakeholder, Dr. Miriam Adelson, that signing Doncic to a supermax contract extension would be a poor investment.
Adelson and Dumont acquired a 69% controlling stake in the Dallas Mavericks from Cuban in 2023 for $3.5 billion.
Adelson Behind Luka Trade?
While ESPN reported that Harrison was the one who convinced Dumont, who is serving as the governor of the Mavs, to trade Doncic, there were rumblings surrounding the shocking trade that Adelson herself was behind the move.
As Casino.org reported at the time, Adelson cares about nothing more than the Israeli State. She’s declared publicly that Hamas and its supporters are enemies of the Jewish community and should be considered “dead to us.”
Doncic is from Slovenia, a European country whose government recognized and established diplomatic relations with the State of Palestine in June 2024. While the official Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs the West Bank and is dominated by the Fatah faction, doesn’t support Hamas, the Palestinian Sunni Islamist political and military group is the de facto governing authority in the Gaza Strip.
It isn’t fully known if Adelson’s contempt for the PA and Hamas, and Doncic maintaining Slovenian citizenship, led to the billionaire pressuring Harrison to trade the team’s superstar. After Doncic was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, Marko Milic, a Mavs assistant coach, also born in what is today Slovenia, left the organization.
On Tuesday, Dumont took full responsibility for severing ties with Harrison.
“You [the fans] 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 wrote in a letter.
Cuban in the Dark
Adding to the Doncic mystery is the fact that Cuban scolded the trade. It’s rather perplexing that the Mavs’ longtime owner and shareholder, who retains a 27% stake, apparently wasn’t involved in the Doncic trade, which included acquiring Anthony Davis from the Lakers.
“No disrespect to Anthony Davis, but I firmly believe if we had gotten four unprotected No. 1s and Anthony Davis and Max Christie, this would be a different conversation,” Cuban told WFAA, the Dallas ABC affiliate. “Just get a better deal.”
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