"Dallas Mavericks: Dreams & Nightmares"

What happens when a franchise player is traded away in the 
middle of the night? How about when you stay up waiting for 
reliable sources to confirm? If you thought this was a dream, 
possibly true. Then... sold on "win now mode" for the 
foreseeable future? This has been a dream turned nightmare for 
Dallas Mavericks fans since February 2025 when former 
General Manager Nico Harrison did the unthinkable and traded 
Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. 

As Mavs fans scorned, lobbied, screamed, yelled, voiced their
distain for Harrison, Dallas lucked into drafting Cooper Flagg 
number one in this summer's 2025 NBA Draft. A full rebuild
centered around Flagg, with a mesh of veterans and proven
head coach in Jason Kidd. But... the nightmare became darker
as Anthony Davis came into training camp out of shape due to
an eye injury which required surgery.

Now, as Lakers fans warned Mavs fans in advance, Davis
would be on the sidelines more than anything. A fragile player
whose history is well known and Rob Pelinka included this in
the blockbuster trade. Now that we're a month into the season,
Davis is out. Point guard Kyrie Irving still nursing a torn ACL
from last season; Klay Thompson is a shell of himself. D'Angelo
Russell isn't high basketball IQ to say the least. What could go
wrong has been just that for Dallas.

Nico Harrison was fired a couple weeks ago and Mavs fans
thought the nightmare ended. Sitting at the bottom in an ultra
competitive western conference, fans have nothing to cheer
about. You see, when the team was winning fifty games a year
and got to the NBA Finals in 2024, all was good. Doncic was
overweight but still dropping 30/9/8 a night. Harrison questioned
Doncic's conditioning and thought it would be ideal to trade
away a twenty-five year old player for an aging Davis who is
hurt.

Harrison's mindset: "defense wins championships and the
window is very much open." Until Davis turns his ankle, pulls a
soft tissue muscle or just oblong mishaps. Fans fumed and
turned on Harrison; as they should've. Drafting Flagg was the
turning point, but not a short-term solution by any means. Dallas
drafts well and able to keep guys around like Dirk Nowitzki who
retire with one team. Harrison wanted to prove he knew
everything and upper management signed off, trusting
Harrison's judgement.

As Mavs fans patiently wait for their new franchise player to live
up and become what they hope, it'll be a process. Nineteen
years old and being the face of a franchise under unusual
circumstances has been awkward. Playing out of position, yet
learning the NBA speed. Role players who are fanned out just
fill roster spots. There's no hope in 2026, but trading away Davis
and Thompson to rebuild this team around Flagg.

With Davis' injury history, teams are going to seek wisely before
making a move. A contract that's doable but the risk factor
sounds very loud. Credit, he can still anchor a defense, but
lacks effort in some cases. Playing power forward next to a
center suits him but in today's NBA, he's interchangeable.
Maybe a buyout and let him go wherever he wants.

Klay Thompson has seen his prime taken away after
horrendous injuries in Golden State. Dallas took a risk and
gambled on what shooting spark left in his abilities. It hasn't
worked; as he's barely seeing the floor and not producing.
Some blame his girlfriend/rapper Megan The Stallion for
Thompson's lackluster play. Career lows in points, three point
percentage, the whole package. His contract is team friendly
and still a veteran presence on a young team.

Kyrie Irving is the player they likely don't wanna move. After
paying him, it's the one who'll get the benefit. Irving was on a
tear before his ACL injury, which doomed any chances Dallas
had of experimenting with Davis. It would be difficult to move
Irving, but if the front office feels there's a glimmer of opportunity
by March, who knows?

From the way Dallas' season is going, likely a top lottery pick
awaits them next summer. As for head coach Jason Kidd,
Harrison gave him an extension prior to all of the trades. His job
is looking murky; but not at fault because the trading of Doncic
had nothing to do with him. Kidd was surprised like everyone

else and body language was screaming in silence. If he can
keep this team competitive, there's no doubt in my mind Dallas
will give him another year. It's only right for Kidd to stay unless
upper management wants to go in a different direction.

The dreams of keeping and winning with Doncic was bright;
then a nightmare occurred and slashed all those hopes without
merit. Dreams are meant to come true; not nightmares in
haunting fans for eternity of what could've been. A blockbuster
film with a strong climax to start; a horrible sequel which nobody
expected and the prequel flopping with lifelong fans.