NEWS: Donnie out | Nico Harrison (Nike) as Pres/GM | Fin as VP | Dirk as Advisor

[ItsGoTime]

Two things:

1) I don't think Ujiri, nor any GM worth having, is coming here without complete autonomy. As in, Cuban butts out on *all* basketball matters. A lack of hand-wringing about this situation is imprudent given that's why Cuban wants to be the owner at all. It's his toy, not an investment. Who's to say that a GM as willing as Donnie to bend over for Cuban is going to make any difference whatsoever, or is going to be one iota better than Donnie?
2) I think that Occam's Razor says that Bob has been the guy for months. If Cuban doesn't reconsider that, we Mavs fans are completely screwed.

1) That's not necessarily true. Having someone else negotiating contracts and trades, planning, talking to players and other GM's could be a good thing. I guess it could get worse, although any new guy that comes in will probably have a much shorter leash.

So Donnie will be the new Raps. GM?...

Nope, Celtics head of scouting dept.

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/dalton_trigg/status/...0629421060

[ClutchDirk]

https://twitter.com/townbrad/status/1405289492236275712

[ClutchDirk]

https://twitter.com/townbrad/status/1405289894457401345

[ClutchDirk]

https://twitter.com/townbrad/status/1405290451523891203

[KillerLeft]

The only issue with this theory is that supposedly Cuban decided to part ways with Donnie on Sunday. The Athletic article came out on Monday. So if the article was the supposed nail in the coffin, unless Cubes had a time machine, it couldn't have been the motivator behind the choice for Donnie to walk away. 

Yeah, that's true, and I'm not saying that this is necessarily what I believe happened. 

BUT, the reality of how articles like that work is that the team has known it was coming for a while, even in this type of situation where the writers waited until the last minute to reach out to Cuban for comment. Trust me, Donnie, Cuban, Bob and Carlisle have all known it was on its way for weeks, at least. 

I don't have any more idea of how it went down than anyone else. We're all just trying to connect dots here. All I'm saying is that if we ASSUME this is an indication that a higher level of organization is on the way, that's dangerous, because it's at least equally possible that this is an indication of the wheels shooting off in four different directions. All of this might be way, way worse two weeks from now. I hope not, of course.

[SleepingHero]

All of this might be way, way worse two weeks from now. I hope not, of course.

Lets be optimistic. All of this might be way, way better two weeks from now.  

[JREwing]

Was Donnie the one who wanted to draft Giannis, but was overruled by Mark? Can't remember, but I think I read that somewhere.

[SwisherPrice]

I will keep believing that Donnie stepped down on his own. The only other explanation is if this was all done behind his back by one of his guys and he found out about what the article was going to include and decided to fall on the sword to get ahead of it on Sunday. Either way, we know things were not working out and he was not happy with the situation and power struggle. 

I highly doubt Luka had any involvement in trying to make Donnie look bad. The interview from Donnie last week was just him giving genuine comments on Luka's development and how he can continue to get better. I did not take it as him throwing Luka under the bus but in today's era, it was framed to look like that. In all of Donnie's time here, I have never heard him throw anyone under the bus...it doesn't matter if it was Josh Howard/Jet disappearing in the playoffs, DSJ looking lost on the court, etc. It wouldn't make sense for him to try to blame Luka there. And from Luka's perspective, one bad quote from Donnie is not enough to warrant him wanting him fired...not the guy who drafted him. If Luka/Duffey were to make a power play then RC would be the first one to go...not Donnie.

I also do not think Cuban had any intention of firing Donnie. If he kept him here through all these years, even all those bad times, why would that suddenly change now? Cuban has had Donnie with him through his entire ownership. Donnie is his ticket to the basketball world, including with other execs, scouts, etc. Personality-wise, they worked well together because Donnie is not very outspoken and tends to work behind the scenes, which allows Cuban to be visible.

[mavsluvr]

https://twitter.com/RKonkle_Mavs/status/...21346?s=20

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/RKonkle_Mavs/status/...21346?s=20

BOOM

WOJ HAS SPOKEN

[ReunionMav]

Killer posted about Rick as GM and Terry Stotts as coach. I too thought of Rick to GM today and Stotts back as Assistant when he got fired. But then I remembered that Rick really loves coaching and often works with players in the summer. He might want to move to the front office but I doubt it. 

Luka on first team NBA
Leonard and Paul add to ridiculous out list 
Nelson out
What a news day!
I wonder what Dirk thinks. He too came in 1998. 
Almost forgot. Barkley out at age 60 in a year or two due to “cancel culture”.

[KillerLeft]

Lets be optimistic. All of this might be way, way better two weeks from now.  

Absolutely right. But you know me - I like to BE PREPARED.

[ClutchDirk]

https://twitter.com/fishsports/status/14...4461867012

[ClutchDirk]

https://twitter.com/fishsports/status/14...3197454346

[Hypermav]

Odds KP was consulted on the move?

[ClutchDirk]

Odds KP was consulted on the move?

Less than 10%...

[StepBackJay]

Less than 10%...

lol 0%

[JREwing]

This is making me think about how badly those two sexual assault scandals were handled. 

It may seem completely unrelated to actual 'basketball' issues like Donnie leaving, or how poorly we draft or trade or whatever, but I think dysfunction is dysfunction – and usually first-rate, championship-caliber organizations don't allow for such ugly situations to happen once, much less twice in a short time span.  

Those were really embarrassing and troubling episodes, and I think they reflect poorly on Marc Cuban as an owner. Fair or not, the buck stops with him. We fans tend to gloss over things like that because they're seemingly peripheral, but they reveal either a lack of awareness about whats going on, bad personal values, or a combination of both.  

Remember the ugly stuff that happened with the Knicks about ten years ago?  Anucha Browne Sanders, Isiah Thomas, Eddy Curry, Marbury – you could see the connection between bad/dysfunctional behavior and a sorry, losing team. Or the Wizards during the end of the Arenas era.

Or Jerry Jones, whose controlling ways and poor judgement has led to much dysfunction for decades now.

So when I see this sort of drama playing out now, I wonder if there's simply a lack of accountability/responsibility at the top that will always be here as long as Cuban is owner.

[chaparral]

Wow, just read most of this to catch-up.  The Mavs drama w/Cuban is better then watching daytime soaps.

1st.  I want to thank Donnie for Dirk and Luka - Thanks.

2nd.  Hoping that this was all planed and Masai is the new GM.  That would lead to what I said in another thread - that Cuban is the source.

3rd.  Donnie had to go because his ties to the Hardaway's.  W/THJ money Masai can now bring in Lowry. 

4th.  Like someone already said the Consulting Co is hired just to clean-up the bad apples.

5th.  If this is not true and we are still looking for a GM in 2 weeks - we have bigger problems...

Hold on to your Mavs caps, its going to be a bumpy summer.