Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison said there was a distinct difference between last year when they traded
center/power forward Kristaps Porzingis as opposed to this season when they traded for guard Kyrie Irving.
The Mavs were 32-23 when they traded Porzingis and a second-round pick to the Washington Wizards on Feb. 10, 2022, for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. The Mavs completed the rest of last season with a 20-7 record, then defeated the Utah Jazz in six games in the first round of the playoffs, and surprised the top-seeded Phoenix Suns in seven games in the Western Conference semifinals before losing to the eventual NBA champion Golden State Warriors in five games in the conference finals.
Harrison didn’t exactly say he was looking for a similar bump Feb. 6 when he acquired Irving – along with Markieff Morris – from the Brooklyn Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith, Dinwiddie, a first-round pick and a pair of second-round picks.
“If you look at last year’s trade that we made with Porzingis, we were rolling before the trade,” Harrison said during Tuesday’s news conference at the Mavs’ practice facilities. “Once we made the trade we just continued to roll. We just had more depth.”
Unfortunately, no such roll happened for the Mavs after this year’s blockbuster trade for Irving. They were 28-26 when the trade became official, then finished with a 38-44 record and no appearance in either the NBA playoffs or the play-in tournament.
“Pretty much all year we’ve been consistently inconsistent,” Harrison said. “So, I didn’t know if this (trade for Irving) would be like a magic pill.
“I don’t think I had any visions of that. But I figured it couldn’t be worse than what it was.”
In addition, Harrison looked at the acquisition of Irving as a trade that would help the Mavs beyond this season.
“I also looked at it as a long-term play,” he said. “Not a short-term play.”
To his credit, Harrison sat on the dais before the media and answered tough question after tough question and didn’t flinch. He knows more was expected of the Mavs this season and he didn’t mind shouldering the blame for the team’s shortcomings.
“When you don’t reach your goals, everybody needs to be evaluated, myself included,” Harrison said. “I don’t put myself above being evaluated when you don’t reach your goals.
“In leadership, you take responsibility. Just like I’m out here in front of you guys to take responsibility for a year that wasn’t what we projected. So, I think that’s part of leadership. You should take responsibility.”
Harrison joined the Mavs in the summer of 2021 following a prosperous 20-year career with Nike. As he entered his second season with the Mavs last summer, Harrison said: “My comfort level was better. Obviously, I kind of knew what to expect.
“The results were worse. So maybe my third year, maybe my comfort will be worse, but the results will be better. I’ll take that.”
Last week Mavs governor Mark Cuban defended coach Jason Kidd and said there’s no reason for him to change coaches. Harrison agreed that’s the right call.
“Jason Kidd’s our coach,” Harrison said. “If you look at what we did last year, nobody asked, ‘Hey, is Jason Kidd the coach,’ because we went to the Western Con
ference Finals. I think Jason Kidd is the same coach that brought us to the Western Conference Finals, but when you don’t reach your goals everybody has to be evaluated. I need to be evaluated. Jason Kidd.
“We have to sit down and hey, what could we have done better? That’s the same thing that has to happen. It’s tough to say that he improved as a coach or wasn’t better. Our record doesn’t show it, so what we need to figure out is what we can do better.”
Harrison said he believes the players rallied around Kidd.
“Although the success wasn’t there, I think if you watched the way the players played, there was no quit on the team,” he said. “Nobody gave up.
“I think we have a lot of high character guys in the locker room. I think when you lose guys that have been around for a long time, that’s obviously going to affect that. But we had high character guys in the locker room this year and I think we’ll continue to have high character guys.”
Both Cuban and Harrison said the Mavs’ No. 1 offseason priority is to re-sign Irving, who becomes a free agent this summer. Beyond that, they want to acquire some players who can help improve the team’s defense and help them with their issues rebounding the basketball.
Also, the NBA Draft Lottery is May 16, and the NBA Draft is June 22 – both in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“The draft in general, I think it’ll be tough to evaluate right now because you don’t know who’s going to stay in and who’s going to put their
name in,” Harrison said. “In terms of what type of player we’re going to look for, just like last year, if we get the opportunity we’re going to get the best available player.”
Harrison hopes that player comes to the Mavs armed with a defensive mindset.
“One of the things — if you look at the difference between last year and this year — statistically, we just didn’t play good defense,” Harrison said. “We just didn’t have the players (this year) that were committed to it.
“I think defense is not just one person. It’s a team thing.”
And it’s a “thing’ the Mavs know improve next season if they have designs on reaching their ultimate goal.
“When you don’t reach your goals, everybody has to take a step back and really do soul-searching,” Harrison said. “Could Jason have done stuff better. I hope so.
“Could I have done stuff better? Absolutely. When you don’t reach your goals, those are the type of conversations you have to have.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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