NBA insider discusses Nico Harrison's future with Mavericks

Is Harrison’s job in any actual jeopardy due to the overwhelmingly negative local response to the trade? No question, post-trade, is posed more often in Mavericks circles and among Mavericks fans than that one. 'Fire Nico' has been a constant cry at Mavericks games and at sporting events (and even at a Medieval Times) all over Texas in the wake of the trade. A banner with that precise message is unmissable on the balcony of an apartment building adjacent to the arena on the corner of Victory and Nowitzki Way. It’s a chant you’re likely to hear a time or three Wednesday night when Dončić is back in the building for the first time since Christmas Day. Whether Dumont would actually consider such a step, however, is an unknown.

It seems a stretch, on some levels, to imagine Dumont signing off on the trade Harrison recommended and then dismissing him mere months later to appease an angry public reaction. Giving in to such calls isn’t going to bring Dončić back. Yet it’s also true that the noise and negativity have scarcely faded over the past two months and are bound to be whipped back to frenzy levels all over again once Dončić is back in the building in Lakers colors. What will Dumont do? Several of Harrison’s moves with the Mavericks were initially questioned — like the Irving trade — but then worked out. As a result, Harrison awoke Feb. 1 with a sky-high approval rating among Mavericks fans. Now it is routinely asked all over town whether Harrison can hang onto his job amid so much widespread external dismay with his decision.Marc Stein

Luka Doncic makes his first return to the American Airlines Center on Wednesday night, and it wouldn't be surprising to see the majority of the fans in a Doncic jersey, whether it be a Mavs jersey or a Lakers one. And the crowd will roar more for anything Doncic does than what the Mavericks will, especially with Kyrie Irving out for the season with a torn ACL. That will make Harrison, Patrick Dumont, and the rest of the decision-makers in Dallas rethink some things this offseason.