By ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks have signed general manager Nico Harrison to a multi-year contract extension with the club headed to the NBA Finals for the first time in 13 years.
The deal for Harrison was announced Tuesday, June 4, two days before Game 1 of the championship round at the Boston Celtics. The Mavs have reached at least the Western Conference finals twice in Harrison’s three seasons.
Dallas extended Harrison’s contract just less than a month after doing the same with coach Jason Kidd. They were hired simultaneously in 2021 less than two weeks after Donnie Nelson was fired as general manager and Rick Carlisle resigned as coach.
Harrison, who spent 19 years in an NBA-focused role with Nike before taking the Dallas job, engineered trades that sparked deep playoff runs in 2022 and 2024. His first blockbuster deal brought Kyrie Irving from Brooklyn last year.
While Irving and co-star Luka Doncic faltered in a partial season in 2022-23, the tandem blossomed in the first full season together. The Mavs, as the lower seed each time, beat the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City in six games before taking care of Minnesota in five games in the West finals.
When Harrison and Kidd were hired, the Mavericks hadn’t won a playoff series since winning the franchise’s only championship in 2011. Dallas has five series victories in three seasons since then.
“Nico Harrison has demonstrated his leadership and capabilities in the Dallas Mavericks organization,” Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont said. “We are proud to have him as part of our team for the long term, and we are excited to watch him continue to build on the foundation of success he has helped establish.”
Harrison got Spencer Dinwiddie in a 2022 trade with Washington, but more importantly ended the failed partnership between Doncic and fellow European Kristaps Porzingis.
The Mavs went on to beat Utah in the first round and upset Phoenix with a Game 7 blowout on the road in the second round before losing to Golden State in the West finals.
A pair of trades before the deadline this year brought Daniel Gafford from Washington and P.J. Washington Jr. from Charlotte. Both have played critical supporting roles in the playoff run.
The first lottery pick of Harrison’s tenure to end up with Dallas was Dereck Lively II from Duke last summer, and the 20-year-old rookie had an immediate impact.
