Dirk Nowitzki believes Masai Ujiri was the right hire to lead the Mavericks after a year that changed the franchise from top to bottom.
DALLAS - The end of the Luka Doncic era was about as ugly as it gets. A franchise player was traded in the middle of his prime, a fan base was in open revolt, the Mavericks won 26 games and the front office eventually was cleaned out entirely. Patrick Dumont fired Nico Harrison in November, and the organization spent the following months rebuilding itself from the top down.
The man tasked with fixing it now has an endorsement that matters in Dallas.
Speaking on 105.3 The Fan on Wednesday, Dirk Nowitzki discussed the Mavericks' overhaul and made clear he believes the organization got the Masai Ujiri hire right
"I think it was time to move on. Time to move on," Nowitzki said. "And hired Masai, who's a proven winner in this league and has turned around a bunch of franchises. And he came in and did a bunch of changes, brought in a bunch of his own people and, obviously, well within his rights, brought a new GM, brought a new coach. So everything's kind of new."
The scope of that turnover was significant. Ujiri arrived to run basketball operations, and 15 days later Jason Kidd was dismissed. Mike Schmitz came aboard as general manager, and Dusty May was hired as head coach June 23. The Mavericks finished last season 26-56, 12th in the Western Conference.
Nowitzki and Ujiri are not strangers, which gives his read on the hire some additional context.
"I've obviously known Masai for a long time through some NBA ties, through NBA Africa ties, and so I've known him for probably 10-plus years," Nowitzki said. "So we've had some discussions over the last couple of weeks."
Those discussions appear to involve more than the state of the roster. Nowitzki suggested a potential role with the organization is being explored, though he was careful to temper expectations about the timing.
"Obviously, we know that I'm pretty busy with some FIBA stuff. I just got back from Europe from the Women's World Cup, which was, by the way, amazing turnout," he said. "Then obviously with the whole Amazon picking back up next month, so there won't be any time soon that I'm taking a full-time job. But we're definitely discussing on what could be my role in the future, but obviously it's way too soon to kind of speak on that."
He closed with a simple assessment.
"I've met Masai a couple times, and excited for the Mavs' future."
The idea of Nowitzki taking on a formal role, whenever his schedule allows for it, would carry significance beyond his day-to-day responsibilities. The relationship between the organization and its fan base fractured after the Doncic trade, and Nowitzki remains one of the few figures with a connection to the franchise that spans generations.
For now, the work belongs to Ujiri and the people he has brought in. The roster was reshaped around Cooper Flagg this summer with an emphasis on size, length and youth, while Kyrie Irving returns from a torn ACL to give the 19-year-old a veteran co-star.
Nobody is promising immediate results, and projections point toward another year outside the playoff picture. But the direction is clearer than it was 12 months ago.
Nowitzki sees that change, too. His support gives Ujiri and the new-look Mavericks another important connection to the franchise's past as they try to build its next chapter.
