With the Mavericks tumbling into the All-Star break and ownership recently responding to reports about selling the team, the search for a new general manager is top of mind.
There are no players competing at All-Star weekend for the Dallas Mavericks this season, but entering the week-long break from regular-season games, the team was still in the headlines following reports of a possible sale by franchise owners Miriam Adelson and co-owner son-in-law Patrick Dumont, the team's governor.
Dumont struck down rumors of the family's intent to sell after minority owner Mark Cuban had reportedly been in talks with a Dallas-based investment group.
At the same time, Dumont has been appointed the new CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., succeeding Robert G. Goldstein officially on March 1.
Despite Dumont's successes internationally in the casino business, he vows to remain committed to the Mavericks and the city of Dallas with plans to construct a new arena prior to the team's lease on American Airlines Center expiring in 2031.
But at this near-midway point of the schedule, there is a more pressing item on Dumont's desk: getting ready to hire a general manager.
Mavericks GM Search Has No Room for Error
When Cuban sold his majority stake of the team in late 2023, he was under the assumption that he would remain the final decision-maker on basketball-related operations. That idea proved to be ephemeral.
Nico Harrison, whom Cuban had hired as GM in 2021 after an extensive career as a Nike executive, had weaseled his way into cahoots with the new owners quickly, which moved him into position to have ultimate say in roster management.
What then followed on the night Feb. 1, 2025 would eventually spell his demise as an inflection point to the downward spiral the franchise has experienced since.
Dumont finally listened to the outcry of MFFLs by firing Harrison after he inexplicably traded franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Doncic's trade return, Anthony Davis, was out indefinitely with injury, and with Dumont desperate to alleviate the damage to set the team up for success with prized rookie Cooper Flagg, he executed a second major move: trading Davis this February to the Washington Wizards.
The Mavs are 2/2 here. The third must be a charm, as well.
Dumont has expressed interest in waiting until after the season to begin seriously interviewing GM candidates, that way some that may currently be in positions across the NBA are available to talk during the offseason.
Given how Harrison had no prior experience in an NBA front office, this necessity is crucial to Dumont putting the keys to the team in trusting hands, ones that are unlikely to diverge further from contention and may not give fans harrowing PTSD.
Currently co-running the team on an interim basis are longtime Dallas execs Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi. Some rumors have indicated that head coach Jason Kidd might garner interest in moving off of the sidelines and into the executive suite, similar to Brad Stevens' pivot within the Boston Celtics organization, but that isn't likely since the fifth-year coach was just extended.
Whatever transpires, according to The Athletic, league sources predict that the Mavericks are "unlikely to make another out-of-the-box hire," saying they will "greatly value experience in their search."
As reporter Christian Clark was told by a source: "After Nico, there’s not much room for creativity."
The 19-year-old Rookie of the Year frontrunner has been nothing short of spectacular, already meeting - and exceeding - his already-sky-high expectations as the youngest player in the league. Trading Davis is an official transition into The Cooper Flagg Era, and the general manager hire must reflect that, as well.
Flagg offers everything you could want and more in rebuilding a team around a star-caliber figure with a do-it-all skillset.
The franchise cannot afford to mess anything else up by making a questionable hire and letting more negative PR get in the way of turning around the basketball product.
The process for getting this hiring process should start sooner rather than later because there is no room for error.