Was Dallas Mavs GM Nico Harrison Fired for Luka Doncic Trade He Didn’t Make?
Nico Harrison, the general manager of the NBA Dallas Mavericks, has resigned. Less than a year has passed since he surprised the sports world by trading Luka Doncic, a five-time NBA All-Star and the league's 2024 scoring champion.
Harrison was recruited by the Mavs, then owned by billionaire Mark Cuban, in June 2021 from Nike, where he created shoe lines for NBA players, to take over as general manager. The Mavericks made it to the NBA Finals a year ago and the Western Conference finals twice during Harrison's tenure.
Harrison concluded in February 2025 that it would be best for the Mavs in the long run to ship Doncic, with whom he frequently disagreed about his defense, off-court work ethic, and conditioning. Harrison allegedly persuaded Dr. Miriam Adelson's son-in-law and Patrick Dumont, president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands, that it would be a bad idea to sign Doncic to a supermax contract extension.
In 2023, Adelson and Dumont paid $3.5 billion to Cuban for a 69% controlling share in the Dallas Mavericks.
Is Adelson Involved in the Luka Trade?
There were rumors around the surprise transaction that Adelson herself was behind it, even though ESPN claimed that Harrison was the one who persuaded Dumont, the Mavs' governor, to trade Doncic.
Adelson is only concerned with the Israeli State, as Casino.org revealed at the time. She has openly proclaimed that Hamas and anyone who support it are enemies of the Jewish people and need to be regarded as "dead to us."
Doncic hails from Slovenia, a European nation whose government in June 2024 acknowledged and opened diplomatic ties with the State of Palestine. The Palestinian Sunni Islamist political and military organization is the de facto ruling power in the Gaza Strip, although the official Palestinian Authority (PA), which rules the West Bank and is controlled by the Fatah faction, does not back Hamas.
It's unclear whether Doncic's Slovenian citizenship and Adelson's disdain for the PA and Hamas caused the billionaire to put pressure on Harrison to move the team's star player. Marko Milic, a Mavs assistant coach who was also born in what is now Slovenia, left the team after Doncic was dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Dumont accepted full responsibility for cutting off contact with Harrison on Tuesday.
“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 Shadows
The fact that Cuban chastised the move adds to the enigma surrounding Doncic. The fact that the Mavs' longtime owner and shareholder, who still owns a 27% stake, didn't appear to be involved in the Doncic trade—which included obtaining Anthony Davis from the Lakers—is somewhat confusing.
“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.”
