Watched the introductory conference. A lot of thoughts.
-He seems to have a very sweet, affable personality.
-His best answer was the adage about kings coming and going and relating Flagg to a prince that will be our next King.
-While his assessment of needing to improve the medical staff sounded encouraging when I first read it, hearing the answer from him was something else all together. It would have been a great answer if it were to another question, but for the question at hand (actually asked twice in a row by two different reporters), I don't think it was specific to the Mavs woes nor was it a good answer to what he learned about the league in his time away from it. Maybe it's reactionary to all the Achilles injuries in the playoffs last year, but you'd figure someone who employed Kawhi Leonard would have already understood the importance of a quality medical staff.
-As a life long Dallas sports fan, I feel about the Mavs a lot like I'd imagine trying to reconcile a relationship with someone who cheated on you. I'd never look at my partner in the same light again and I'd always have a seed of doubt in my head. Weird preamble for sure, but I really wish Ujiri would have taken the Luka trade question head on. You'd already discussed the importance of a superstar in sport in one of your other answers. He should have put the niceties aside, taken the layup and simply said there is no way he would have traded Luka. I think that would have done a lot for Mavs fans like me who are currently fence sitters.
-I was encouraged by not committing to Kidd until the follow-up later on in the conference where he mentioned that if you studied his previous stops, the current coach stayed in place for years before being replaced. I don't think we can predict much about Kidd's immediate future.
-As disappointed as I was in Ujiri not taking the layup, Dumont should have done the same. Fall on the sword, explain how Ujiri and new processes will prevent that from ever happening again, and win back some good will. Too much dancing around the subject from the public enemy that we can't be rid of.
-Speaking of Dumont, it feels like he locked into Ujiri pretty quickly in the process. I'm having flashbacks of Jerry and Mike McCarthy. Really curious who else was in serious consideration and if any other big hitters were pursued wholeheartedly.
-Dumont and Ujiri both spoke about hard conversations. I wish they were pressed more on this about what those were. If I had to guess, it would have been scrutiny of how the Luka trade was allowed to pass, evaluation of the AD trade, futures of the Kidd, Riccardi, Finley, and the future of Kyrie Irving and how to navigate a potential trade for the rebuilding process.
I caught a video of Bryan Broaddus of all people talking about the Mavs this morning and I was shocked to be in lockstep with his line of thinking (maybe I just need to be away from his football takes to appreciate him, ha!). I really hope Ujiri cleans house (Finley, Riccardi, Kidd, medical staff). His recent track record isn't great, but overall it's more competent than we've seen in decades or maybe ever. His first big test is Kyrie. A lot of the fanbase, me included, love him as much as we are surprised with how we'll he's worked out for us. I think we all understand that he probably doesn't fit the timeline, but it will still be a tricky waters to navigate.
p.s. trade Christie
-He seems to have a very sweet, affable personality.
-His best answer was the adage about kings coming and going and relating Flagg to a prince that will be our next King.
-While his assessment of needing to improve the medical staff sounded encouraging when I first read it, hearing the answer from him was something else all together. It would have been a great answer if it were to another question, but for the question at hand (actually asked twice in a row by two different reporters), I don't think it was specific to the Mavs woes nor was it a good answer to what he learned about the league in his time away from it. Maybe it's reactionary to all the Achilles injuries in the playoffs last year, but you'd figure someone who employed Kawhi Leonard would have already understood the importance of a quality medical staff.
-As a life long Dallas sports fan, I feel about the Mavs a lot like I'd imagine trying to reconcile a relationship with someone who cheated on you. I'd never look at my partner in the same light again and I'd always have a seed of doubt in my head. Weird preamble for sure, but I really wish Ujiri would have taken the Luka trade question head on. You'd already discussed the importance of a superstar in sport in one of your other answers. He should have put the niceties aside, taken the layup and simply said there is no way he would have traded Luka. I think that would have done a lot for Mavs fans like me who are currently fence sitters.
-I was encouraged by not committing to Kidd until the follow-up later on in the conference where he mentioned that if you studied his previous stops, the current coach stayed in place for years before being replaced. I don't think we can predict much about Kidd's immediate future.
-As disappointed as I was in Ujiri not taking the layup, Dumont should have done the same. Fall on the sword, explain how Ujiri and new processes will prevent that from ever happening again, and win back some good will. Too much dancing around the subject from the public enemy that we can't be rid of.
-Speaking of Dumont, it feels like he locked into Ujiri pretty quickly in the process. I'm having flashbacks of Jerry and Mike McCarthy. Really curious who else was in serious consideration and if any other big hitters were pursued wholeheartedly.
-Dumont and Ujiri both spoke about hard conversations. I wish they were pressed more on this about what those were. If I had to guess, it would have been scrutiny of how the Luka trade was allowed to pass, evaluation of the AD trade, futures of the Kidd, Riccardi, Finley, and the future of Kyrie Irving and how to navigate a potential trade for the rebuilding process.
I caught a video of Bryan Broaddus of all people talking about the Mavs this morning and I was shocked to be in lockstep with his line of thinking (maybe I just need to be away from his football takes to appreciate him, ha!). I really hope Ujiri cleans house (Finley, Riccardi, Kidd, medical staff). His recent track record isn't great, but overall it's more competent than we've seen in decades or maybe ever. His first big test is Kyrie. A lot of the fanbase, me included, love him as much as we are surprised with how we'll he's worked out for us. I think we all understand that he probably doesn't fit the timeline, but it will still be a tricky waters to navigate.
p.s. trade Christie
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