On the day before the Dallas Mavericks fight for their playoff lives in the 9/10 play-in tournament matchup against the Sacramento Kings, general manager Nico Harrison and CEO Rick Welts held a roundtable discussion with reporters with no cameras or any sort of recording equipment around as they looked to address the media comprehensively for the first time since pulling off the ever-controversial Luka Doncic trade.

It's not a stretch to say that circumstances are as dire as it can get for the Mavericks. Not only has their on-court product tanked to the point of alienating most of their fans, they have also been deep in the red, hemorrhaging money. But the latter has been the case for the Mavs even before trading Doncic away, as per Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News.

According to Townsend, the Mavericks “were projected to lose more than $100 million this season” before the Doncic trade, and that was due mostly in part to the $53 million loss they incurred by foregoing their projected $45 million regional TV revenue while spending $8 million to create Mavs TV.

Suffice to say, that projected $100 million loss is going to balloon even further in the aftermath of the Doncic trade. It hasn't helped matters whatsoever that the Mavericks have been raising ticket prices while they're in the middle of (arguably) the biggest PR crisis this franchise has ever experienced.

Perhaps the Mavericks' bid to build a new arena will help sway fan sentiment back in their favor. Welts mentioned that they were making headway in that regard. But it's going to take a few years at best for the Mavericks to right the ship in light of the disastrous turn of events that has befallen them over the past few months.

Article Continues Below
More Dallas Mavericks News
Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) controls the ball as Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (0) defends during the first half at American Airlines Center
Kyrie Irving responds to Mavericks fan who climbed Mount Everest in his jerseyJulian Ojeda ·
Mavericks Nico Harrison on left. Mavericks PJ Washington shooting a basketball on right. Place a stop sign in the middle.
Why Mavericks’ potential PJ Washington trade would be disasterJoey Mistretta ·
Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson (31) looks on during the first half against the Los Angeles Clippers at Intuit Dome.
Klay Thompson’s heart-wrenching tribute to late dog RoccoJoey Mistretta ·
Scottie Scheffler reacts after making his putt on the 14th green during the second round of the Memorial Tournament
Scottie Scheffler has hilarious Mavericks thought at The MemorialKendall Capps ·
Klay Thompson with his dog Rocco.
Klay Thompson’s beloved dog Rocco passes away at 13Kenzo Fukuda ·
Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga (00) holds onto the ball against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the fourth quarter during game four of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Chase Center. Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
Mavericks ‘blueprint’ cited for Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga trade strategyJake Faigus ·

Mavericks franchise begins road to redemption — on and off the court

Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison during the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers at American Airlines Center.
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Mavericks franchise has hit rock bottom, and the only good news to come with that is that there is nowhere to go for them but up. Their outlook might be bleak, but at the very least, they can remain semi-competitive in the West with Anthony Davis leading the way, and they have been linked to a potential Kevin Durant trade, which should aid in their win-now cause.

It will be hard for the Mavs to fix their financial books without remedying their on-court woes, as they couldn't even make it work with Luka Doncic still on the roster. But the best way for them to address this is to fix one thing at a time.