The Dallas Mavericks are arguably in the worst position of any NBA team this season right now. After the highly hated decision to trade Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis and Max Christie, the franchise has been hit with a plague of injuries which might cause them to forfeit games later in the season if anyone else gets hurt or if nobody returns.
This is a nightmare season for fans, who blame Mavericks GM Nico Harrison for all this. This has led to incessant ‘Fire Nico’ chants wherever the GM is seen in public. While the fans are right to express their frustration, Mavericks forward PJ Washington made it clear that calls for Harrison’s firing are affecting the players.
“At the end of the day the trades happened, we understand we have a new team now. All that ‘Fire Nico’ stuff, we’re just sick and tired of hearing it. We just want to go out and play and the fans to support us.”
This is a very tricky situation, as Washington is 100% correct in expecting more support from the fans. However, fans are also right in their protests of the Doncic trade and calling for the removal of Harrison.
Just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean that mounting fan pressure eventually leads to it, which is the end goal for the fans.
That puts the players in a very tough spot. They haven’t done anything to antagonize the fans. They didn’t trade Doncic and have been extremely empathetic with the fans’ struggle with moving on given what Luka meant to the city and what loyalty means to the franchise as a whole.
Harrison’s actions as GM mark a shifting point in the Mavericks organizational ethos, which is why fans are blaming him for everything that’s going wrong. While Washington and other players might prefer fans cheering them on for what they’re continuing to do on the court, it isn’t easy for the fans to just move on from the seminal trade of the decade, especially when they see Luka dominate for the Lakers.
The Mavericks’ Injuries Have Made Everything Worse
Not only are the fans mad about the Doncic trade, they’ve had to sit back and watch their entire team get hurt one-by-one.
It started with Dereck Lively II suffering a foot fracture in January before the trade madness started. Immediately after the trade, the Mavericks lost Anthony Davis and Daniel Gafford to long-term injuries with PJ Washington missing time as well.
Kyrie Irving and Jaden Hardy would get sidelined together in the same game, with Irving tearing his ACL and Hardy suffering a minor injury that has sidelined him for weeks. Olivier Maxence-Prosper underwent season-ending wrist surgery while Dante Exum got hurt yet again with a weeks-long absence scheduled ahead.
That’s seven rotational players ruled out and likely remaining out for the rest of the month. There’ll be no holding players out from returning for tanking, as the Mavericks are in legitimate danger of forfeiting games if they don’t have eight available players.
With seven long-term injuries already, one more injury could bring them in trouble, especially when two-way players like Kessler Edwards and Brandon Williams are ineligible for more NBA days.
The healthy players are doing everything they can to keep the team afloat, although the injuries are far too much to overcome for winning basketball. Thankfully, the Suns are bad enough not to threaten the Mavericks for the No. 10 seed, as they’re still 1.5 games ahead and on track to make a Play-In appearance.
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