The Dallas Mavericks turned heads before the trade deadline after general manager Nico Harrison traded superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Now, a month later, Kyrie Irving has suffered a torn ACL and is out for the season. Meanwhile, newly acquired Anthony Davis’s return to the lineup hangs in the balance due to injury as well.
Dallas owns the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference for now, with 20 games remaining in the regular season. Due to the trade and injuries going on in Dallas, fans and talking heads around the league are starting to question Harrison’s job status moving forward. ESPN’s Shams Charania spoke about that speculation during a guest appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday.
After discussing the situation going on for the Mavericks regarding the Doncic trade and the injuries Irving and Davis sustained, McAfee asked Charania point blank, “This Nico guy gonna survive? He just has a lifetime job?”
Charania responded with, “He’s got multiple years left on his contract. In the aftermath of that trade, I remember I came on here and said we’ll judge this trade in the next few months, in the next few years. This trade is dependent on the Mavericks going far, and they’ve already been to the finals with Luka Doncic, so what else can you do besides get to the finals? Winning a championship. That’s what Nico Harrison and the Mavericks have set the standard of being judged on. And Nico Harrison said we’ll see if I’m right or not. We’ll see.”
‘Kyrie Irving was having an unbelievable season..
He was on track to get a max contract this offseason and this was a devastating injury”@ShamsCharania #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/g7yhb9gssg
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 4, 2025
With Irving out of the lineup, it’s expected that Spencer Dinwiddie will take on the starting point guard role. Dante Exum is also expected to earn increased minutes as well with Jaden Hardy also suffering an ankle injury.
Irving was in the midst of having a monster season, as the soon-to-be 33-year-old guard was averaging 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game. He was also shooting 47.3% from the field and 40.1% from the three-point line.
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