A fans perspective 

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The hot seat became even hotter

My original plan was to report on Nico Harrison and the issues he was facing with the Dallas Mavericks. As most are aware Harrison was general manager of the team, notice I said WAS! I had to make drastic changes in the account I originally intended to write, we must delve into the past for detail. Harrison called Rod Pelinka of the Lakers and said, “How would you like to have Luka Doncic a member of your team.” Of course that’s what occurred, there were minor parts of the trade but it became Anthony Davis in exchange for Doncic February 2.

Moving ahead to the June 2025 draft the Mavs won the lottery securing the top pick, everyone and I do mean everyone was aware the Mavs would choose wunderkind Cooper Flagg of Duke. Why was Harrison fired, we only need look at the record of each team. The Lakers missing LeBron James since the season start, they were missing Luka as well for a number of games. Despite that fact they have raced out to an 8 win 3 loss record, the Mavs have 3 wins and 8 losses despite Cooper Flagg in the lineup. The Mavs slow start record caused many of the fans to become upset with Harrison once again. Apparently on Tuesday morning the easiest move for team ownership was to remove Harrison as general manager of the team. It was clear to all, trading a 26-year old superstar was not the fix required for the Mavs.

Block shot leaders 

In order to block shots one must always be alert to the opportunity, in addition a player must have a desire to keep the opponent from scoring. The NBA early leader in blocked shots in this season so far is San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, I know you are saying that should be expected. The guy is nearly 10 feet tall, well that’s an exaggeration of his height however he is a legitimate 7-feet 5 inches in length. As this is written Wemby is the league leader with 3.78 blocks per game, that’s a dip below the 3.83 he registered last season of course he missed nearly half the season due to injury.

As for the shot blockers of the past they exceed Wemby’s single season numbers, Mark Eaton of the Jazz led the NBA in 1984-85 with 5.56 blocks and second to him was Manute Bol with 4.96 in 1985-86. Wemby is light years ahead of both in the offensive department. Nearest to Wemby is Elmore Smith who played for the Lakers in 1973-74, he blocked 4.85 shots per game. Smith, although not an offensive juggernaut was certainly outstanding compared to Eaton and Bol. This is certainly no intent on my part to indicate Wemby is on are even near the level of Celtic legend Bill Russell. Video was posted on a social media platform detailing four occasions opposition players refusing to shot the ball with Wemby in the vicinity.

A rich history

This brief study is based on the recent passing of the legendary Lenny Wilkens. It was reported he arrived at Providence University than began his lifelong career in the NBA. The university located in Providence Rhode Island has a rich basketball history dating back to the 1926-27 season, 99-years ago. Presently the Friars are coached by former Mizzou player Kim English. A rich coaching history exists at Providence, some of the names mentioned might be unfamiliar to you but they had much to do with the winning ways of this New England school.

One of those names was the late Joe Mullaney who coached the team from 1955-1969 prior to leaving for the professional ranks in the NBA and ABA. Dave Gavitt, who was the first commissioner of the Big East Conference also coached at Providence for a time. Of course Rick Barnes and Rick Pitino are names some might be more familiar with, both remain active coaches at Tennessee and St. John’s. The list of basketball talent who played at Providence is immense and several of the names are familiar to you. Billy Donovan current Bulls coach played for the Friars, so did Jimmy Walker and Marshon Brooks and the infamous Jim ‘Bad News’ Barnes. This exercise provides just a small look at the rich basketball history of this Rhode Island school. In closing I root for the school because of the head coaches connection to my home state of Missouri.

Meanwhile….   

Who is Nick Smith Jr. might be the question? For starters he was the 27th pick in the first round of the 2023 NBA draft by the Hornets. During this period he divided his time between the G-League Swarm and the parent club. He’s only 6-foot 2 and 185 pounds however Smith Jr. is a shooting guard. He was waived by the Hornets September 25, 2025, 4 days later he signed a two-way contract with the Lakers. Contracts of that nature entail spending time with a G-league affiliate however that might be a question to consider. As mentioned earlier Smith Jr. came off the Lakers bench scoring 25 points, which certainly aided the Lakers win. We don’t know at this point if his contract will be converted perhaps the Lakers are adopting a wait and see on his further development. On the other hand his slow NBA development could be attributed to his former team.  

I read a story on ESPN’s NBA page Monday regarding its view of the Top 100 college prospects in the 2026 NBA draft. A couple of notes, of the Top 10 named only two have observed their 19th birthday, that would be (number 5) Caleb Wilson 6-foot 10 freshman at North Carolina, he’s a power forward/center. Joining him is (number 6) Mikel Brown, a 6-foot 5 freshman point guard at Louisville. The other 8 players named all are 18 years of age and only a single prospect is in his sophomore year of college, that would be (number 9) Jayden Quaintance 6-foot 10 Kentucky center. What does this exercise prove, if this holds true for the June draft, once again youth will be served and the draft remains top heavy with freshman athletes.