Lemme try telling you this story the way it stuck in my head. So like, Tim MacMahon was going on about Nico Harrison — y’know, the Mavericks boss dude — and his obsession with defense. And seriously, when I say obsession, I mean OBSESSION in all caps. Nico’s like one of those guys who’d scream “defense wins championships!” at you even if you’re just trying to order a coffee. I swear, if he had more fingers, he’d still be counting how many times he’s preached about it. Defense, defense, defense—okay, we get it, Nico.
Anyway, rewind to last year. The Mavs suddenly turned into some kind of defensive juggernaut in the last 20 games. Like, suddenly they had the defense skills of the universe or whatever, ending up in the finals against those Boston Celtics people. Their defensive rating or whatever — 109.2, if numbers do it for you — would’ve been the second-best if you’re looking at last season’s numbers. Not too shabby, right?
But uh, yeah. They lost. Don’t ask me to explain why because defense was “supposed to be” their golden ticket, yet it wasn’t. Something didn’t click—like I dunno, was it Mercury in retrograde? Also, there’s this messy thing with draft picks in 2027 through 2030. They’re tied up like an old set of Christmas lights. All twisted and weird. How was that supposed to support Luka? Like, really? I mean, possibly, Nico meant to play the long game here or something. But who can tell?
Nico’s vision is this kind of wish-upon-a-star plan that spans three to four years. But let’s be honest, year one was a dumpster fire, thanks to injuries and such. I gave him the side-eye on all that confidence, like, really? But the dude has no chill. Back to his “defense is awesome” routine in a heartbeat.
Oh, and plot twist! Or maybe it’s not a twist? Nico aims to hang onto his GM badge for, count ’em, three more years. Yep, plenty of time to keep hammering on that defense drum. So sit tight, I guess? Seems like defense isn’t going away anytime soon under his watch.
