The Dallas Mavericks Are a DISASTER

The Dallas Mavericks Are a DISASTER

I got the Dallas Mavericks as a top contender for the NBA championship. Why shouldn’t you be fired? One, I think I’ve done a really good job here and I don’t think I can be judged by the injuries this year and you’ll see next year when our team comes back. We’re going to be competing for a championship. Do you guys remember all of the preseason hype about the Dallas Mavericks? Cooper Flag, the generational prospect. Anthony Davis supposedly healthy for a fresh start. A potential playoff team that nobody wanted to face. Hell, people thought that the Luca Donic trade may have been worth it after all. Yeah, about that. The Mavericks currently have the worst offensive rating in NBA history. Not this season, not this decade in NBA history. They’re 3-7, second to last in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, the Lakers with Luca Donic are 7 and3 and they’re looking like championship contenders without LeBron James. Even 9 months after that shocking February trade, we’re watching the most spectacular implosion of a franchise’s hopes in recent memory. And now, GM Nico Harrison’s job security is the first question people around the league are asking about. But here’s the thing that makes this even more brutal. Since February, Luca Donuch has played in more games than Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, and Derek Lively II combined. The Mavs traded Luca partly because of injury concerns. Now, their entire roster is in the medical tent, and Luca is out here averaging 41 points a game for the Lakers. You cannot make this stuff up. So, before we get to the content, we are giving away a jersey of your choice to a subscriber that turns on our notifications on this channel. It’s something I want to do each and every week. Just comment in the comment section down below which jersey you want. And now that we got all that out of the way, cue the intro. [Music] Like I’m high level, bro. Like I see when you’re open, you don’t even know you’re open. Like be ready for me, bro. Mic check 1212. What’s going on everybody? Look, we all know about the Luca Dona trade right now. I mean, hell, we made like 20 videos about this one trade since February. In case you were living under a rock, February 2nd, 2025. Luca gets traded to the Lakers for Anthony Davis. One of the most shocking trades in NBA history. The Mavs missed the playoffs last season, finishing 39 and 43. But heading into the 2025 to 26 season, there was actually some real optimism in Dallas. Why? Two words, Cooper Flag. The Mavericks won the NBA draft lottery with just a 1.8% chance and landed the first overall pick. They drafted Cooper Flag out of Duke, who is being called the most complete prospect since LeBron James, probably the second most talented prospect that we’ve ever seen in the past two decades, right behind Victor Webbyama. Cooper Flag was the overwhelming favorite to win the Rookie of the Year at minus 185 odds. Generational talent, two-way player, high basketball IQ. The kid could do it all. And then there was Anthony Davis. He played very sparingly because he got hurt after the trade last season, but it’s a new year, right? The plan was to pair Anthony Davis with Cooper Flag and create one of the deepest front lines in the NBA. Davis Flag, Derek Lively II, Daniel Gaffford, PJ Washington. There’s size, there’s length, there’s athleticism. The Mavs had talked about this being a defensive juggernaut. And remember, Nico Harrison’s whole reason for trading Luca was this. Defense wins championships and we’re bringing in one of the best two-way players in the league. National experts were all over the place with their predictions. Some had the Mavericks finishing as high as the sixth seed in the West. Others predicted seventh or eighth, but the consensus was pretty clear. Once Kyrie Irving came back from his ACL tear around January, this team would be a problem. I mean, check out what NBC Sports wrote in an article. The front line of Anthony Davis, Cooper Flag, and Derek Lively is one of the best in the NBA. This is a long, athletic team across the board. And Cooper Flag really lived up to the hype. At least in preeason, he did, averaging 11.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in just 21.7 minutes. Bleacher Report gave him an A grade for his defense, saying most rookies aren’t positively impactful defenders. In fact, plenty detract from their team’s defenses, but even if Flag wasn’t graded on a curve here, he might get the A. His feel for the game was obvious, and the Mavericks went 3-1 in preeason. Everything seemed to be coming together. The narrative was simple. Yeah, we missed the playoffs last year, but that was a transition year after the Luca trade. Now we have our generational rookie. Anthony Davis will be healthy for a full season and by the time Kyrie Irving gets back, we’ll be rolling into the playoffs. Spoiler alert, the Mavericks are not rolling. So, what’s actually happened? Well, let’s start with the elephant in the room, Anthony Davis. You know, the guy who was supposed to be the healthy centerpiece of this whole thing, the literal centerpiece of the entire Luca Donich trade. He’s already missed the last three games with a calf strain. And it gets worse. He’s dealing with bilateral Achilles tendinopathy, and reports say he showed up to training camp overweight, thinking he could play his way into shape. But his body couldn’t handle the extra mass. Let me say that again. The guy who was supposed to be your defensive anchor, the reason you traded away a 25-year-old MVP candidate that led you to the NBA finals showed up to camp out of shade, and now he’s hurt. which is kind of ironic because remember the original reason why Nico Harrison wanted to trade Luca Donuch was he was allegedly overweight. And now through the first nine games of the season, Davis has been in and out of the lineup with various injuries. But it’s not just AD. Kyrie Irving tore his ACL last season and is out until at least late December or early 2026. The guy who was supposed to be your secondary star, your veteran leader, your closer, gone for probably the first three months of the season, if not longer. He hasn’t played a single game this season yet. Jason Kit said Lively is basically week to week, which isn’t that encouraging since it’s a pretty mysterious injury. Daniel Gaffford has been in and out. Dante Exim has been out with knee injury management. At one point last season, the Mavericks only had eight healthy players available, which is literally the bare minimum required to play a game. And now this season, we’re seeing history repeat itself. The team that was supposed to be built on size and depth is getting absolutely murdered by injuries. Here’s the stat that should haunt Nico Harrison’s dreams. Since the trade in February, Luca Donuch has played in more games than Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, and Derek Lively II combined. The Mavs traded away Luca because of availability concerns and got back a roster that can’t stay healthy to save its life. And you know what makes this even more painful? Throughout his 13-year career, AD has missed 244 games. That’s basically three full seasons. The man has been injured in every part of his body. In his first five seasons alone, he had 25 injuries. And the Mavericks thought that this guy was going to be more durable than Luca Donuch. Come on. Now, I want to talk about Cooper Flag because this is maybe the saddest part of the whole story because it’s not even his fault. After the Mavs lost to New Orleans, Flag said something that should break every basketball fan’s heart. For me, it’s the most, you know, month since, you know, I think ever. This is a kid that went 33 and 0 at Montverie Academy and won a national championship. He went to the Elite 8 at Duke. He’s never experienced losing like this. And here’s why he’s losing. Jason Kidd is playing him completely out of position. Flag started the first seven games of the season at point guard. Point guard. He’s a 6’9 forward who played the three or four at Duke. But since Kyrie Irving is out and the Mavericks don’t have any real point guards, Kid decided to throw an 18-year-old rookie into the most demanding position in basketball, probably in hopes that he could turn into Luca Donuch as well. Tim McMahon summed it up perfectly, saying, “I’m not selling any Cooper flag stock, but it’s a struggle for him. He has the second worst plus minus in the league. His shooting numbers are unsightly to say the least. I think he’s a good passer for a 6’9 18-year-old forward, but he’s not a good passer for an NBA point guard. Certainly not right now. And the stats back that up. Through nine games, Flag is averaging 14.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.7 assists. Those numbers aren’t terrible for a rookie, but he’s shooting just 40.3% from the field, and 29% from three. His plus minus is minus 69. Nice. which is the second worst in the league. Mavs Moneyball wrote a piece titled, “Should we be worried for Cooper Flag?” And it’s devastating. They wrote, “The Mavericks are not doing right by Cooper Flag. For a generational rookie, the pingpong ball could have bounced anywhere, maybe to Washington, where Flag would have missed shots, lost games, but played freely in his role and grown through reps. Instead, he lands in Dallas, a franchise that went to the finals in 2024, then detonated its core on that fateful February night. They go on and say that Jason Kit didn’t slide Cooper Flag into a natural forward slot. He hasn’t protected him with spacing or ball handling support. No, he started him at point guard, essentially handing an 18-year-old slasher the keys to a brickheavy sans Kyrie offense with no navigation system. And you know what? They finally made a change against New Orleans. They started D’Angelo Russell at point guard and moved Flag to his natural position. And guess what happened? Flag had 20 points, nine rebounds, two assists, three steals, and two blocks. He looked like the player that everyone expected, but they still lost to the worst team in the Western Conference by two points, and they didn’t even have Zion Williamson for that game. The damage is done. Cooper Flag is currently behind VJ Edgecomb for rookie of the year, but honestly, VJ Edgecom is awesome, so that’s not really a surprise. He’s averaging 21 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.4 assists for the Sixers. But Flag was supposed to run away with the award. Now he’s an afterthought. I want to really emphasize how terrible the Dallas Mavericks offense is. According to basketball reference, the Mavericks have posted a relative offensive rating of negative 11.8 through eight games. That would be the worst in NBA history if it holds up for an entire season. Relative offensive rating compares you to the league average. The Mavericks aren’t just below average, they’re so far below average that they’re making history. Of the 19 teams to finish a season with a relative offensive rating of -7.5 or worse, none won more than 27 games. The Mavericks are a1.8. They’re averaging 106 points per game. That’s ranked 30th in the league. That’s dead last. They lack consistent shooting, playmaking from their guards, an isolation scorer who can create his own shot. Klay Thompson, who is supposed to be their shooter, is struggling. He’s been so bad that Jason Kid benched him against the Pelicans. But guess what Klay Thompson has to say about all this? Big things are supposedly coming. You know who I have to blame for Klay Thompson’s struggles? That strange fried catfish that Megan the Stallion forced him to eat. I bet you it’s sapped Clay of all of his powers. It is the best thing I’ve ever tasted. My favorite meal. So chill. It was good, babe. It was amazing. M my favorite meal. Who would have thought? Catfish, spaghetti, and some red sauce. You need to understand the Mavericks failed to score 100 points in three of their six losses. Against New Orleans, they lost to a Pelicans team without Zion or Jordan Pool. That’s two of the Pelicans best offensive players. And the Mavs still couldn’t score 100. Remember when Nico Harrison said this, “Defense wins championships and we are hanging our hat on defense.” Well, it turns out you need to score points if you want to win a basketball game. Who would have thought? Now, what about the team that the Mavericks made this trade with? While Dallas is falling apart, the Los Angeles Lakers are thriving. They’re seven and three. They’re sitting in second place in the Western Conference, just one game behind the defending champion OKC Thunder. And they’re doing this without LeBron James, who still hasn’t made his season debut as he works through a sciatica injury. Luca Donuch is playing the best basketball of his life. Throughout his first six games, he’s averaging 37 points, 10 rebounds, and 9.5 assists. Those are video game numbers. I mean, I do not expect him to sustain this level of production. He scored at least 43 points in his first three games. The only other player in NBA history to do that was Will Chamberlain twice. Against the Spurs, Luca had 35 points, 13 assists, nine rebounds, five steals, and two blocks. He became the first Lakers player since 1973 to74 to have 35 plus points, 10 plus assists, and five plus steals in a regular season game. Marcus Smart’s reaction after the game told you everything you needed to hear. Got what? Five, two blocks. What? Steal, two block, baby. I see you. DPI, baby. Defensive player of the year. Let that sink in. The guy who Nico Harrison said they needed to trade because of his defense is now getting DPOI shout outs for one of the best defenders of this past generation. This is comedic levels of irony. The Lakers are scoring 1.185 points per play out of a Luca pick and roll. The fourth highest rate of any player to finish at least 50 plays. When Luca’s on the floor, they’re scoring at a rate that would eclipse the Rockets top ranked offense. Austin Reeves is having a career year next to him. And the funniest stat of all is what Stat Muse tweeted here. Fun fact, Luca has more blocks than the Dallas Mavericks have wins this season. Defense wins championships. Ouch. So, where do things go from here? Well, if the Mavericks maintain this level of offensive futility, they’re on pace to win maybe 25 games. That would be one of the worst seasons in franchise history. And this is a team that was supposed to make the playoffs. The best case scenario is that Anthony Davis somehow stays healthy. Kyrie Irving comes back around New Year’s and is still good. Cooper Flag adjusts to the NBA and starts playing like the prospect everyone thought he was. And they can salvage a playin spot. That’s the best case. And even then, they’re probably a first round exit. The worst case scenario is Anthony Davis keeps getting hurt. Kyrie’s comeback takes longer than expected. Cooper Flag’s development gets stunted by being put in a terrible position. They finish with 30 wins. Nico Harrison gets fired and the franchise is set back years. But you know what makes all this so much worse? The Maverick’s constant what if questions. What if the Mavericks had just kept Luca? What if they’d been patient with his development, gotten him in better shape, surrounded him with better defenders? What if they just offered him the supermax and built around a 25-year-old top five player in the world? Instead, Luca is getting articles written about him like this one from Yahoo Sports. Is this the best Luca Donuch we’ve ever seen? The Lakers stars on a historic season opening heater. He’s never been better. He’s playing elite defense. He’s shooting efficiently. He’s making his teammates better. He’s doing everything the Mavericks said he couldn’t do. And the Mavericks are watching from the bottom of the standings as their former franchise player thrives in LA. Every Luca highlight is a knife in the heart of Dallas fans. Every Lakers win is a reminder of what could have been. So, here’s the million-dollar question. How much longer does Nico Harrison have a job? According to ESPN’s Tim McMahon, it’s absolutely a legitimate question whether Harrison can keep his job. And here’s the really telling part. When you talk to people about the Mavericks around the league, it is the first question that people are asking. Think about that. NBA executives, scouts, media members, when they talk about the Mavericks, the first thing they ask is whether Nico Harrison is getting fired, not how’s Cooper Flag developing, not when is Kyrie Irving coming back. The first question is about the GM’s job security. That tells you everything you need to know about how this situation is being viewed around the league. Harrison earned a multi-year contract extension in June of 2024, right as the Mavericks were preparing for game one of the NBA Finals. That success feels like it was a decade ago now. Dallas has stumbled to a 3-7 start while fielding the league’s worst offense with an offensive rating of 103.2. Despite ranking sixth in defense, they can score. And all that pressure is falling squarely on Harrison’s shoulders. And you know what makes this even more brutal? Back in April, shortly after the Luca trade, Harrison was asked directly why he shouldn’t be fired. His response, why shouldn’t you be fired? one, I think I’ve done a really good job here, and I don’t think I can be judged by the injuries this year, and you’ll see next year when our team comes back, we’re going to be competing for a championship. At the same time, this is the same guy that said this following the Luca trade. The future, 10 years from now, I don’t know, they probably bury me and Jay by or we bear ourselves, he said that they’re going to be competing for a championship in April. It’s now November and they’re three and seven, second to last in the West with the worst offense in NBA history. Those comments are already aging like milk left out in the Texas Sun. The team governor, Patrick Dumont, reportedly still supports Harrison, but how long can that last? Every loss makes it harder to justify keeping him. It’s blown up in in his face. It’s blown up in Patrick Dumont’s face. After that Luca trade, Patrick Dumont, infamous quotes, was in Nico we trust. The trust is disintegrated at this point. And here’s the thing. Dumont was the one who approved the Luca trade. If he fires Harrison now, he’s essentially admitting that the trade was a disaster. That’s a hard pill to swallow when you’re part of the ownership group. But the pressure is mounting from all sides. Mark Cuban, the former majority owner who is now a minority stake owner, weighed in on the Stephen A. Smith show saying, you know, I’m not thrilled with the composition of the team. I think we’re imbalanced. We don’t have enough depth at point guard. We don’t have somebody who’s a creator that gets other people shots. That’s Mark Cuban publicly criticizing the roster construction. And it gets better. Mavs legend Dirk Nitzky, now an analyst for Amazon Prime, didn’t hold back either. I feel bad for my mass fans. This has been a disastrous start. Obviously, there’s a hole at at point guard and and playmaking position. So, there’s a hole at shot creating. There’s a hole at shot making. They can’t shoot. They can’t make plays. Nobody can make shots. It’s been tough to watch. When Durk, the most beloved player in franchise history, is publicly saying that a team is a disaster to watch, that’s not good for the GM who built this roster. According to League sources, the next four to 6 weeks are critical for Harrison. There are informal checkpoints coming up. The Thanksgiving window, mid December, when more players become trade eligible in January, when teams know whether they’re buyers or sellers. If the Mavericks are still floundering by then, the conversation about Harrison’s future is going to get even louder. The scrutiny isn’t just about the Luca trade either. Before the season, Harrison signed PJ Washington to a 4-year $90 million extension. Washington is shooting 28.1% from three-point range with a negative plus minus. He gave D’Angelo Russell the taxpayer mid-level exception, thinking he’d be good enough as a point guard. That hasn’t worked out. Every move that Harrison has made since the trade has been questioned. Look, front offices don’t usually make GM changes in early November, but they do make them in December or January if things don’t turn around. For Harrison, the path forward depends on the results. If Dallas can somehow find a rhythm when Kyrie Irving returns, if Flag develops quickly, if Davis stays healthy, maybe the pressure eases, but that’s a lot of ifs. Right now, the clock on Harrison’s tenure is ticking louder with each defeat. And with Luca thriving in LA while the Mavericks sink to the bottom of the standings, that clock might run out sooner than anyone thinks. So, let me know in the comments section down below. Do you think the Mavericks should fire Nico Harrison? I like to hear what you have to say. Aside from that, I’m your boy Mike. I’m dropping our mic. Until our next upload. [Music]

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