Zach Lowe Rips Nico Harrison Over His ‘Vision’ For Dallas Mavericks

On a recent episode of his podcast, The Ringer’s Zach Lowe eviscerated Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison and his recent comments about the “vision” for the organization.

Nico Harrison Talks ‘Vision’ For The Mavericks

Nico Harrison says that he thinks fans “finally start to see the vision.”

Talks about how drafting Flagg can help repair the relationship with fans. pic.twitter.com/EtTbRSsGU6

— Noah Weber (@noahweber00) June 27, 2025

To say Harrison might be the luckiest executive in the league might be an understatement.

Harrison shocked the entire NBA community earlier this year by trading Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick.

While Davis is a talented player, Harrison’s decision to do this quietly and not start a bidding war between other teams is considered asset malpractice.

After losing in the Play-In Tournament, the Mavericks had a 1.8% chance of winning the 2025 NBA Draft.

In a stroke of pure luck, the Mavericks won the lottery, giving Harrison the biggest “get out of jail free” card in recent memory.

The Mavericks selected Duke’s Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick.

During Flagg’s introductory press conference, Harrison stressed that the Mavericks are a winning basketball team, and his vision for the team is coming together.

“We’re in ‘win now’ mode, and we have a really good team, and Cooper adds to that,” Harrison said on Friday via Noah Weber. “I think the fans can finally start to see the vision.”

Zach Lowe Rips Nico Harrison

Zach Lowe’s segment on the Mavericks, on his latest episode of his podcast, perfectly conveys my thoughts on Nico’s “vision”

Also agree with him that the Mavs are a very good team, but not a contender

Full episode: https://t.co/zsWIOJRFS5 pic.twitter.com/5igBCmG2AJ

— Mavs Film Room 🐴🎥 (@MavsFilmRoom) June 29, 2025

Safe to say that Lowe is not seeing Harrison’s “vision.”

On The Zach Lowe Show, Lowe took exception to Harrison’s comments, believing they lucked into a vision of this team because of the lottery win.

“I don’t want to hear Nico Harrison talking about how, ‘Now, fans are starting to see the vision,’” Lowe remarked. “Because the vision was two quarters against the Houston Rockets before Anthony Davis got hurt. My God, they’re clinging to those two quarters. And now it’s Cooper Flagg. And there is no vision. Unless he’s an oracle of some kind, and then the whole NBA is in trouble because a supernatural being has entered the league.

“There’s no vision that includes, ‘You know what we’re going to do? We’re going to lose in the play-in and win the lottery in the Cooper Flagg year. Not the Zaccharie Risacher year, the Cooper Flagg year, with a 1.8 percent chance of doing it. And then the fans’ll see my vision. Then the fans will see my vision.’ Just no more vision talk. That’s all.”

Lowe did credit the Mavericks for having a promising team. However, Dallas needs Kyrie Irving back from injury before they can reach their full potential.

“The team is good. It’s a good team. P.J. Washington’s extension eligible. That’s a sneaky one to keep an eye on,” Lowe said. “They need a point guard. Some point guard. Any point guard. They’re really only going to have the baby mid-level exception to get it, get that player, and that will take them further into the tax. So, multiply whatever they spend for whatever the multiplication is for the tax. It’s a lot of money.

“I don’t think they’re a title contender. Kyrie Irving’s coming back from an ACL tear, and we might not see him at his best. We’re going to see him this year. We might not see him at his best until ’26-27. But this is a very good team. Cool. I would just quiet on the vision talk.”