Mavericks' Nico Harrison problem just got exposed by Rob Pelinka's award results

Dallas Mavericks fans have been furious with Nico Harrison ever since he decided to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis late into the night on February 1, and every move that has followed the Doncic trade has only made fans even more upset.

Despite Harrison claiming he has never spoken poorly of Doncic at his end-of-season press conference a few weeks ago, the Mavericks have drug Doncic's name through the mud behind closed doors constantly ever since the trade went down. Leaks were uncharacteristically common for the weeks following the trade, as it became evident that Harrison didn't believe in Doncic's future, and neither did Patrick Dumont.

Harrison convinced Dumont that Doncic wouldn't be able to lead the Mavs to the promised land, and Dumont even alluded that Doncic didn't have a good work ethic. The entire process with Harrison and Dumont was not ideal, and ever since the trade went down, Harrison has been criticized for the way things were handled.

The entire world knows Rob Pelinka robbed Nico Harrison

At nearly every home game following the Doncic trade, "fire Nico" chants rained down from fans, as they were disgusted that Harrison traded Doncic while not maximizing the return package for him. The feeling inside the arena was definitely different without Doncic on the floor, and Harrison's Doncic trade will echo into basketball eternity.

Harrison got fleeced by Rob Pelinka in the negotiations of this trade, and some recent reward results reflect just that.

In the voting results for the 2024-25 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year Award, Pelinka received 11 points and ended up getting sixth place for the award (13 executives received a vote altogether). Harrison received zero points and zero votes.

This is a big change from last year, as Harrison got fifth place for the Executive of the Year Award and received 11 points, and it doesn't seem like he has the same belief from his peers that he once had. This award is voted on by one executive from every team in the NBA, and Pelinka getting a handful of votes while Harrison got zero shows how lopsided the Doncic-Davis trade truly was.

Harrison was excited to add Davis' defense to his squad, as he deeply believes that "defense wins championships," but not maximizing the return for one of the most special offensive players of this decade is a fireable offense. All the Mavs had to do was sign Doncic to a supermax extension this summer and trade him next summer if Harrison was truly set on moving him in order to maximize his value, but they couldn't even do that.

Harrison traded Doncic less than a year after they made the NBA Finals while getting older and only receiving one first-round pick in return, and the overwhelming feedback from those around the league is that Pelinka pulled off one of the best trades in NBA history while leaving Harrison in the dust.