NBA

Nico Harrison Says Mavericks Will Compete For An NBA Championship In 2026

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Anthony Cardenas
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Anthony Cardenas Sports Editor

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Published21 Apr 2025

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Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison broke his media silence on Monday afternoon during a press conference. Nearly three months after the massive trade of NBA title next year.

Harrison Says Mavericks Will Be NBA Finals Contenders Next Season

One of the topics that Harrison continually referred to during the media session was the injury bug that bit the Mavericks hard in 2024-25.

The newly acquired Anthony Davis was hurt in his first game with the team and was forced to miss 18 games. Kyrie Irving suffered a torn Achilles in early March, which will keep him out until at least next January. Dereck Lively was out from mid-January til early April, and Daniel Gafford and Maxi Kleber missed extended time.

Harrison stood strong on the notion that the Doncic trade was not as bad for the Mavericks as we all thought, and that the main issue for the 2024-25 NBA season was the injuries that the team suffered.

When asked directly why he thought he should keep his job, Harrison said the following: “I think I’ve done a really good job here…You’ll see next year when our team comes back we’re gonna be competing for a championship”.

Another quote from Harrison is sure to make headlines. “I did know that Luka was important to the fan base. I didn’t quite know it to what level.” Mavericks fans made a serious stink when their franchise player was traded away, and Dallas has reportedly seen a sharp decline in both merchandise sales as well as in season ticket sales for next season and beyond.

The Dallas Mavericks finished the 2024-25 NBA season with a record of 39-43, and they actually posted a respectable mark of 13-20 after the Doncic trade. It forced them to participate in the Play-In Tournament as the 10th seed, but you would have thought that their win/loss record would have been far worse given the discourse around the trade and the injuries that the team dealt with.