03-21-2026, 03:52 PM
(03-21-2026, 12:47 PM)Winter Wrote: It's a bit of a stretch to even imagine that's what I meant.
I mean other GM candidates can have success here. It's not limited to one candidate. If we don't hire Presti - whose name we have never heard in conjunction with this hire - then I'll hope the GM we do hire will be a good one. That's entirely possible you know. The FO may be unable to hire Presti. We may never even hear if he was interviewed. Either way, I'll pull for whomever is hired because it's what fans do.
I personally would like to see someone outside the organization, and I'm hoping that's the direction they go. If it's Riccardi, then so be it. I'll still pull for his success.
Ok. Not arguing over what you meant. (But will argue over whether it was any sort of a stretch to read it as I did. Clearly that was NOT what I thought you were trying to say.)
To reply to what you say you did mean --
... Of course, there are multiple candidates who MIGHT have success. Who are a mystery because they've done nothing. Or who we can gin up excuses for past failures and think that working in Dallas will turn them into a prince instead of a frog. I get it (and have never said or thought otherwise).
... Of course I will hope for success (even by raw luck) no matter who they hire.
... Of course there are other GM's besides Presti who have given past evidence they could be a good one. But I see Presti as The Best, and when I do, why would I want anything less?
And all of that ^ to me is blather. CYA angles, after assuming failure is the only possible result for trying to get what I really truly need to do.
You tell me they haven't been linked to Presti, but can you think of WHY that might be the case (other than assuming it's an indicator of a pointless dead end)? I can. In that vein, let me add a vital point that you and the naysayers fail to see. If the Mavs want THE BEST NBA GM in the whole world, whoever it is, where do you think they might find him and what might he be doing these days? If you start by eliminating any and every one in that category, you are very unlikely to get The Best, or even anything remotely closed to it.
So I land where I have been. Presti please. Go get The Best, Dumont. Don't settle. It may be costly, because of where you will find him, but if you want to be the best, you have to hire The Best.
Identify The Guy. Then Get The Guy. Nothing less than the one who has PROVEN he is an EXPERT in all the GM-related skills. A guy who wins drafts, wins trades, wins development, wins cap-managing. Not a "hope he can figure it out" guy. Don't tell me that other teams are the only ones who can have nice things, and the Mavs (and Mavs fans) must settle for leftovers.
THE BEST. In light of past history, I am not really interested in a pursuit of second rung guys, nor "this guy might work out okay" ideas, NOR EXCUSES to justify candidates we already know are not that guy. To me, trying to justify "Mr Not Really The Best" feels like an endorsement of some Nico Jr jerkwad GM wanna-be (because that's the very path that led us to Nico the Idiot).
Presti please.