MAVS NEWS:

[KillerLeft]

Just great….from the latest athletic article

Monday’s loss to the Bucks marked the sixth straight game Davis has missed with a left calf strain. Multiple league sources said Davis has tried to convince the Mavs to let him return to the court, and Harrison urged him to return, but the team’s medical staff forbade it, citing the potential for a torn Achilles if Davis returned too soon.

This is actually a positive, from my POV. Sanity seems to be regaining traction in the organization. 

One of the best takes on all of this I've heard was from Rachel Nichols, believe it or not. Her thesis was basically that regardless of what you think of any one decision Harrison has made during his time here, the real problem, and ultimately, the reason he HAD to be fired, was that we'd reached a point where he was very clearly making decisions based on what's good for himself, NOT what's good for the team. In other words, from the second that Luka trade happened, everything has been about not admitting it was a mistake...overworking Kyrie down the stretch...bringing Davis back from injury too soon (which he was apparently trying to do again)...the summer decisions on roster balance (not admitting that Davis couldn't simply be dropped into a roster built around Luka without some significant retooling)...pretending Flagg could just jump right into the specific hole left by Luka's departure and that he could be made much more of an on-ball player right away...failing to even consider moving guys like AD/Kyrie, knowing the new face of the franchise is only 18. 

She nailed it, imo.

[Chicagojk]

From the athletic article it mentions poor hires by Nico, lack of accountability by him, and how he was sensitive if you disagreed with him.

For the Nico replacement, Christian Clark said if it was Riccardi it would be a clear sign of Kidd's sway with Dumont.  If it was Lindsey, it would be a clear show that Cuban has re-established himself as a strong voice in the organization.  I am not sure making either comfortable (Kidd or Mark) is a high importance to me.  Either may be fine or good selections, but I hope the Mavs look deeper.

[Chicagojk]

From the athletic article it mentions poor hires by Nico, lack of accountability by him, and how he was sensitive if you disagreed with him.

For the Nico replacement, Christian Clark said if it was Riccardi it would be a clear sign of Kidd's sway with Dumont.  If it was Lindsey, it would be a clear show that Cuban has re-established himself as a strong voice in the organization.  I am not sure making either comfortable (Kidd or Mark) is a high importance to me.  Either may be fine or good selections, but I hope the Mavs look deeper.

Bravo.  Nice ending to the article.  I can’t believe this was said at that press conference.  What an awkward press conference that was.


Nine months ago, Harrison and Harrison alone was who Dumont listened to. Perhaps the Mavericks’ governor heard Harrison loud and clear on Feb. 3, in Cleveland, the day after the trade when Harrison, in describing what he’d just done, said: “The future to me is three, four years from now. Ten years from now, I don’t know. They’ll probably bury me and J(ason Kidd) by then. Or we bury ourselves.”
For Harrison, it didn’t take nearly that long.

[BoredAssistant]

So we get mad when our local owners get too involved in personnel decisions and don't listen to the guys they hired to run the team, and we also get mad when ownership listens to their GM/coach.  I've already stated my opinion that I put 95% of the Luka deal on Nico/Kidd, so I'm not ready to pull out the pitchforks for this ownership group after then just excised a big part of that decision.

That's fair but Dumont and ownership will be heavily scrutinized from now on and with good reason.

[Kidnova]

That's fair but Dumont and ownership will be heavily scrutinized from now on and with good reason.

I agree. I'm personally remaining neutral towards this ownership team until I see how they treat the franchise over the next two years.  If they do what some people have suggested and give Kidd more control, then that will start to raise my level of concern.

[Kidnova]

...We would do well as a city to move on from all of this and be about embracing the Flagg era...

I expect that's exactly what will happen.  "Fire Nico" was, as the words imply, a targeted backlash from the fans.  I think there's a big return to normalcy now.  Will there be some boos if the team goes 30-52?  Sure, but that's true about every team that's bad.  I don't think we'll see the fans turn their ire on ownership or anybody else in the organization unless the team stays bad over multiple seasons.

[KillerLeft]

I agree. I'm personally remaining neutral towards this ownership team until I see how they treat the franchise over the next two years.  If they do what some people have suggested and give Kidd more control, then that will start to raise my level of concern.

Agreed. 

I think it's the definition of pointless to expect ownership to change hands anytime soon, so if I hated the owners as much as some seem to, I'd just give up on the Mavs. However, I will be watching how they handle this transition carefully, because it will likely be a good indicator of what we can expect from them for the next several decades. 

I still LIKE the idea of an ownership group that puts basketball people in control and lets them work. I'm still a believer in the idea that this approach represents an improvement over how Cuban ran the team. But, they need to be the right basketball people, and when things aren't working those basketball people need to be held accountable. 

I get that Harrison wouldn't have been allowed to do the trade if he hadn't been reporting to the greenest Governor in the sport, and I think it's valid to be pissed about Dumont's role in how it played out, or even Cuban's role in selling when he did. But, the fact that Harrison has ALREADY been fired, 11 games into the season, leads me to believe there's a chance some learning is happening. If I like the next hire, my hopefulness will win out. If not, I don't know how much longer I'll hang on.

[cow]

I still LIKE the idea of an ownership group that puts basketball in control and lets them work. I'm still a believe in the idea that this approach represents an improvement over how Cuban ran the team. But, they need to be the right basketball people, and when things are working those basketball people need to be held accountable. 

I believe you have that in Dumont.  We just caught the backend of the careful what you wish for adage in that it was Nico who was trusted.  And if you want to be chartable to Dumont, Nico wasn't his guy and he had been on aa pretty hot streak of team building that led us to the finals.  There are reasons be less chartable of course and if what Gump was posting about Cuban getting a bigger role again is true, I'd be pretty conflicted about the Mavs going forward.  The GM hire will be telling and I hope we go with someone foreign to the organization.  Fresh eyes or whatnot.

[Chicagojk]

Pretty crazy to look back and see Nico was brought in as a relationship guy with strong communicative skills.    Boy, was that off.

[KillerLeft]

 if what Gump was posting about Cuban getting a bigger role again is true, I'd be pretty conflicted about the Mavs going forward. 

I see this point. Really, I do. 

Counterpoint: For all of Cuban's faults and failures, he wouldn't have allowed the events of the past 9 months to happen. If I was Dumont and I desperately wanted to swing the PR momentum back towards a manageable place, I'd probably put Cuban into more of a front-facing position, too. He's better at dealing with the media than anyone who has tried to communicate anything on behalf of the Mavs for a while, that's for sure, and there are still fans who love him (somehow). Further, I'd go so far as to suggest that IF Cuban had been allowed to continue on in the role he wanted, at least for a year or two, Dumont probably would've learned some things in a less costly way. 

Ultimately, I think Cuban could have a role that has a chance of making sense. Not pushed completely out of the circle, but ALSO not the ultimate decider (which he'll clearly never be again, having lost ownership control). I'm not suggesting that a return to Cuban as the final word might be a good thing, and in fact I think there's basically no chance that happens. 

I think the fans' relentlessness is primarily responsible for Harrison making it only 11 games into this season, but it sure seems like Cuban is the one who got through to Dumont with some variation of "look, man, this just has to be done. No way around it." For today, at least, Cuban gets some gratitude from me.

[cow]

I see this point. Really, I do. 

Counterpoint: For all of Cuban's faults and failures, he wouldn't have allowed the events of the past 9 months to happen. If I was Dumont and I desperately wanted to swing the PR momentum back towards a manageable place, I'd probably put Cuban into more of a front-facing position, too. He's better at dealing with the media than anyone who has tried to communicate anything on behalf of the Mavs for a while, that's for sure, and there are still fans who love him (somehow). Further, I'd go so far as to suggest that IF Cuban had been allowed to continue on in the role he wanted, at least for a year or two, Dumont probably would've learned some things in a less costly way. 

Ultimately, I think Cuban could have a role that has a chance of making sense. Not pushed completely out of the circle, but ALSO not the ultimate decider (which he'll clearly never be again, having lost ownership control). I'm not suggesting that a return to Cuban as the final word might be a good thing, and in fact I think there's basically no chance that happens. 

I think the fans' relentlessness is primarily responsible for Harrison making it only 11 games into this season, but it sure seems like Cuban is the one who got through to Dumont with some variation of "look, man, this just has to be done. No way around it." For today, at least, Cuban gets some gratitude from me.

I fully agree that had Cuban been in that role, Luka never would have been traded, but since that is spilled milk, he is way less useful now unless we want to go back to impatience around team building and spinning our wheels why wasting years of superstar talent.  I really don't think he needs to be involved in digging us out of the hole that was dug to put a supporting cast around Luka, especially since we didn't refill that hole with the trade pieces that were brought back.  We need someone that can execute a really long term plan and is okay with having an arm or two tied behind his back while rebuilding.  Hard for me to give Cuban credit when he's responsible for setting all these balls in motion.  I'd rather give the vocal fans their due.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Pretty crazy to look back and see Nico was brought in as a relationship guy with strong communicative skills.    Boy, was that off.

Let's keep it 100%.  Nico was brought in because he had an in with African American players, something Cuban and Donnie did not.  That's it.  He had no other qualifications.  He has no experience at any level putting together a basketball roster.

Remember that summer when all the NBA teams tampered and players signed at 6:01pm while Cuban and Mitch Kupchak (Hornets) were the two front offices that were caught with their pants down.  Nico was brought in so we could also tamper through back channels.

[Dirknows]

I fully agree that had Cuban been in that role, Luka never would have been traded, but since that is spilled milk, he is way less useful now unless we want to go back to impatience around team building and spinning our wheels why wasting years of superstar talent.  I really don't think he needs to be involved in digging us out of the hole that was dug to put a supporting cast around Luka, especially since we didn't refill that hole with the trade pieces that were brought back.  We need someone that can execute a really long term plan and is okay with having an arm or two tied behind his back while rebuilding.  Hard for me to give Cuban credit when he's responsible for setting all these balls in motion.  I'd rather give the vocal fans their due.

I want zero input from Cuban. We’ll end up in an even worse spot by trying to salvage this season. I want a GM to come in and gather assets and build around Cooper.

[cow]

I want zero input from Cuban. We’ll end up in an even worse spot by trying to salvage this season. I want a GM to come in and gather assets and build around Cooper.

I wish Presti was on the market.

[fifteenth]

word to the cow cow

[fifteenth]

Regarding the Cuban discussion: I could be wrong, but Cuban seems more mature and less all about himself these days. I could be wrong. Not saying I want another super hands-on Cuban era. Just saying, if he was the ownership rep I think he might stay more in his lane this time around.

[Jmaciscool]

I wish Presti was on the market.

I mean, he's gotta be kinda bored right now after winning the championship and perfectly setting up his team for the future, right? Maybe he'd like a new challenge...

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

[MacMahon] Sources: Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont has requested medical data indicating that Anthony Davis is not at risk of aggravating his left calf strain before giving a green light for the 10-time All-Star big man to return. Davis will miss his seventh straight game tonight.

edit: I see this was posted in the GDT. Maybe Dumont is not a moron after all.

[cow]

I mean, he's gotta be kinda bored right now after winning the championship and perfectly setting up his team for the future, right? Maybe he'd like a new challenge...

I'd money whip him and offer him a minority stake in the team if I were Dumont.

[BigDirk41]

I'd money whip him and offer him a minority stake in the team if I were Dumont.

Agreed. They are rich AF. Money whipping the best GM in basketball would be a good way to win the fans back. Give the guy 15-20 million per year or whatever the heck it takes.