The Dallas Mavericks are scheduled to play the Kings in Sacramento on Wednesday in the NBA’s Play-In Tournament, but at this point they would be wise to cite too many players have COVID and opt out of this postseason.

On Tuesday morning, the Mavericks continued their calendar year of punching themselves in the crotch, nose, jaw and both eye balls. With less than 24 hours notice, the Mavericks invited a small number of local, and national, media for a sit down with team president Rick Welts and GM Nico Harrison at the American Airlines Center.

This is Harrison’s first media session with some, certainly not all, local media since he traded Luka Doncic to the L.A. Lakers, on Feb. 2. Harrison spoke to the media the day after the trade, in Cleveland. Harrison skipped the press conference in Dallas when the team introduced the players acquired in that deal, notably Anthony Davis.

Since that trade, Harrison has replaced Jerry Jones as the Worst GM in the state, and one of the most despised sports figures this region has ever seen. The chant “Fire Nico” would be No. 1 on Billboard charts.

Another catch to this Tuesday press conference that isn’t a press conference is no recording devices, such as cameras, or cell phones, were permitted. According to the people who were there, the chat lasted one hour, and the main focus was that “defense wins championships.”

Harrison told the small group, “There’s no regrets on the trade.”

Welts is in the Basketball Hall of Fame, an organization that may want to re-think his spot there in Springfield, Mass. considering the way he has handled his new job. Mavs owner Patrick Dumont hired Welts, who has been in the NBA for 46 years, to run the business of Mavs basketball, but instead it looks like Welts is being run over by his general manager.

Welts has to know that for an organization that is openly lobbying for a new arena after having traded the second-most popular player in the history of the team to a hated rival, they have not only eat their peas and broccoli, but take the bullets and swallow mud milkshakes, too.

He has to know now is not the right time for the Mavs to do this type of session.

A head coach or a GM chatting with local reporters in an off-the-record conversation is not new. It’s a way to establish a level of trust, and for both parties to bounce ideas, and questions, off each other. It’s a healthy practice that should be followed, and people who cover the team daily should be given priority.

With a new contract in hand that was awarded after the team’s run to the NBA Finals in 2024, and working for an owner who openly owns the fact that he knows nothing about basketball, Harrison has security. He is not acting like a man who believes in his convictions.

He made this league-altering move, and rather than own it for the reasons he felt necessary to do the deal, he should swallow every single bite. Instead, he has not only pushed it all away, but run from it.

Nico Harrison has been in basketball for decades, and knows the game. Every part of it. He was successful at Nike, and multiple NBA teams pursued him to be their GM before former Mavs owner Mark Cuban landed him a few years ago.

Most of the moves Harrison made after Cuban hired him worked, most notably the trade to acquired Kyrie Irving.

The Doncic trade may ultimately be what fans fear, the basketball version of sending Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees.

Harrison believes dealing Doncic was essential for the future of the Dallas Mavericks, however dumb that sounds. Rather than pray it all just goes away from it, he has lean into it. Own it. That’s leadership.

And let the cameras roll.

This story was originally published April 15, 2025 at 11:36 AM.