Nico Harrison

Mavs’ GM Harrison: Avoided “Tumultuous Summer” By Dealing Doncic

February 2nd, 2025 at 5:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison and head coach Jason Kidd addressed the media prior to Dallas’ game at Cleveland on Sunday afternoon after the Luka Doncic–Anthony Davis three-team blockbuster was made official.

Harrison said that he never discussed a contract extension with Doncic or his representatives. There had been speculation that Doncic may have informed Dallas’ front office that he wouldn’t remain with the organization long-term.

Doncic was eligible to sign a five-year, $345MM super-max extension this summer, and league sources told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon that Doncic anticipated agreeing to that deal. However, Harrison wasn’t sure about making that type of commitment and Doncic could have opted out of his current deal after next season.

Harrison decided on a preemptive strike rather than dealing with a potentially touchy situation.

“There’s some unique things about his contract that we had to pay attention to,” Harrison said. “There’s other teams that were loading up that he was going to be able to decide, make his own decision at some point of whether he wants to be here or not. Whether we want to super-max him or not, or whether he wants to opt out. So, I think we had to take all that into consideration, and I feel like we got out in front of what could have been a tumultuous summer.”

Harrison has been heavily criticized since the deal came to light late on Saturday night, not only because he gave up a 25-year-old superstar but also because he only picked up one first-round pick in the trade. He’s willing to accept the consequences if it doesn’t produce a championship for the Mavericks.

“Well, let’s be clear: I’m the one making the decision and [Kidd]’s supportive of it, so it’s me,” he said. “I don’t do anything that’s scary. I think everything that we do, we put a lot of work into it, we study it and we re-study it and we go back. I understand the magnitude of it. So, the easiest thing for me to do is do nothing, and everyone would praise me for doing nothing. But we really believe in it — and time will tell if I’m right.”

While he didn’t directly criticize Doncic, Harrison referenced “culture” as a big part of his reasoning for acquiring Davis. Harrison initiated talks with Los Angeles general manager Rob Pelinka over coffee when the Lakers played the Mavs on Jan. 7, and those discussions progressed over the following weeks, according to MacMahon.

“It’s important to know that Kidd and I are aligned and we talk about archetypes and we talk about the culture we want to create,” Harrison said, per Joe Vardon and Christian Clark of The Athletic. “There are levels to it, and there are people that fit the culture, and there are people that come in and add to the culture. Those are two distinct things and I believe the people that are coming in are adding to the culture.”

Kidd, who was an assistant with the Lakers when they won the championship in 2020, echoed those comments.

“When you look at the vision of the team and what Nico wants to do, I truly support that, and truly believe that the players that we are getting are the ones who can help us achieve that, and that’s to win a championship,” he said.

The team, for now, will be built around Davis and Kyrie Irving.

“I think (Irving is) shocked, but understand he’s been in this league and has seen different things, so understanding we have to push forward,” Kidd said, per Mike Curtis of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). “He probably saw things differently and I’m speaking from my point of view. At some point, you guys will ask him the questions and I know he’ll give you guys the answers that you’re looking for.”

Doncic posted a statement on social media, thanking the Dallas fans and community and expressing that he never expected to leave the organization. “I thought I’d spend my career here and I wanted so badly to bring you a championship,” he wrote. The full statement can be accessed here.

Inside The Stunning Luka Doncic/Anthony Davis Trade

February 2nd, 2025 at 11:04am CST by Rory Maher

Luka Doncic “was completely floored” when he learned that he had been traded to the Lakers, league sources tell Dallas-based NBA insider Marc Stein (Substack link).

Stein reiterates that Doncic did not request to be traded and confirms reporting from ESPN that the Mavericks had reservations about giving the Slovenian star a five-year, super-max extension in the offseason due to his “conditioning, ability to stay healthy and his off-court commitments to those pursuits.”

In an appearance on SportsCenter last night (YouTube link), ESPN’s Brian Windhorst called the trade a “rebuke” of Doncic from the Mavericks’ perspective. While the primary focus from people around the league has been on Dallas’ end of the deal, Windhorst says LeBron James has “dreamed” of playing with Doncic, though it’s unclear how he feels about the move, given his close relationship with Anthony Davis.

As Stein writes, there had been whispers in the week leading up to perhaps the most shocking trade in NBA history that the Mavs were on the verge of making a deal, but rival teams weren’t sure what they were planning. General manager Nico Harrison has a preexisting relationship with Davis and zeroed in on the 10-time All-Star as an ideal return package for Doncic.

According to Stein, Harrison “essentially” only had the Lakers in mind as a trade partner, in large part due to Davis. That choice of wording is interesting, because league sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic that “at least one other team” was approached by Dallas nearly two weeks ago about the prospect of trading Doncic for a different star. That offer was declined.

Amick’s story has several sourced details, particularly from the Lakers’ end. According to Amick, Lakers leadership has grown weary of James and Davis’ continual public requests for more on-court help. Amick also hears Los Angeles had concerns about Davis’ “durability and availability and a belief that he could never truly be counted on as a top option” going forward.

In a fascinating interview with Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News, Harrison said he approached Lakers head of basketball operations Rob Pelinka more than a month ago to have “basketball” conversations. Harrison noted that the two have known each other for a couple of decades from their previous jobs, when Harrison was a Nike executive and Pelinka was a player agent.

“Then all of a sudden we’re like, ‘Would you ever do this?’

‘Nah, you’re joking, right?’

‘Hmm. Interesting. Maybe I would.’

“And then it just built over time over the last three weeks,” Harrison told Townsend.

Harrison admitted Doncic’s contract situation was a primary motivating factor in making the trade. Doncic will no longer be eligible for an extension worth 35% of the salary cap this summer after being moved; the most he can make now is 30%.

“We really feel like we got ahead of what was going to be a tumultuous summer, him being eligible for the super-max and also a year away from him being able to opt out of any contract,” Harrison said. “And so we really felt like we got out in front of that. We know teams, they’ve had it out there, teams have been loading up to try to sign him once that comes available.”

He also said he hasn’t had direct communication with Doncic since the news broke, having talked to his agent Bill Duffy. His text and phone call to Doncic went unanswered, with Harrison telling Townsend, “My guess is he probably doesn’t want to talk to me.”

Davis has publicly said multiple times he views himself as more of a power forward rather than a center. Harrison told Townsend that while Davis will likely finish games in the middle, he will also play alongside Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively when the latter returns from an ankle fracture, pointing to Cleveland (Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen) as an example of a two-big pairing that has been successful.

Here’s more on the blockbuster trade:

James has a full no-trade clause, but both Stein and Amick write that the four-time MVP must be evaluating whether he’s still determined to finish his career in Los Angeles after the trade. According to Amick, there was an expectation that James would decline his $52.6MM player option for ’25/26 in the offseason to seek another contract, but it’s unclear if the Lakers would be willing to offer it.
Sources tell Stein (Twitter link) that the first time Harrison and Pelinka talked about trading Doncic for Davis was in person on January 7, when the Lakers were in Dallas to play the Mavs. League insider Chris Haynes hears the Lakers contacted Davis’ agent Rich Paul sometime after they heard the offer, viewing Doncic as a long-term replacement for James (Twitter video link).
After the trade was completed, Pelinka made three phone calls, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter links): the first was a joint call with Davis and head coach JJ Redick; the second a call to Paul; and the third to James. McMenamin also hears from sources that Davis chose to waive his trade kicker for multiple reasons, one being that he wants to sign an extension with Dallas in the future.
According to Stein, Doncic had been targeting February 8 as his return date from a left calf strain prior to the trade. The five-time All-NBA guard has been out with the injury since Christmas.
Doncic’s now-former teammate Kyrie Irving was also “stunned” by the deal that will send Davis, Max Christie and the Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick to the Mavericks, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reports (via Twitter).
Both the Lakers and Mavericks are expected to continue to be active in trade talks leading up to Thursday’s deadline, according to Stein, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press and Christian Clark of The Athletic (Twitter links). “Everybody knows the Lakers are trying to do more even after this,” a source told Reynolds.
In a full story for The Athletic, Clark takes a look at Harrison’s history of making major roster moves at three consecutive deadlines. John Hollinger of The Athletic views the trade as a potential disaster for the Mavs, given the ages and injury histories of Irving and Davis. Hollinger also speculates that Doncic could sign a short-term extension with the Lakers in the offseason in order to maximize his future earnings, a possibility Bobby Marks of ESPN (YouTube link) discussed as well.
Mavs fans were understandably heartbroken by the trade, writes Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News. “I’m hoping to wake up from a bad dream,” one fan said. “You have the most talented Mavericks team in Mavericks history and you have Luka right here. It’s like, ‘Boom.’ We just went to the finals, we finally get this team around him, it’s all right here, and then you trade him? It’s the biggest joke ever.”

Mavericks Notes: Trade Deadline, Exum, Kelley, Marshall

January 29th, 2025 at 10:28pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Mavericks have been reeling in their last month-plus of action with All-Star guard Luka Doncic sidelined. How many of Dallas’ issues just boil down to the absence of Doncic and some other injured vets? As the February 6 deadline approaches, Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News previews the team’s trade options.

Since Doncic strained his left calf during a Christmas Day loss to Minnesota, the Mavericks have gone 6-11. Dallas has fallen to a 26-22 record on the season, and now occupies the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. The Mavericks are just 2.5 games behind the fourth-seeded Nuggets, but also only lead the No. 11-seed Warriors by two games.

Last season, Dallas made two pivotal deadline deals, acquiring forward P.J. Washington and center Daniel Gafford. With the club’s frontcourt hugely improved, the Mavericks made a run all the way to the 2024 NBA Finals. This year, Curtis observes that Dallas has significantly more depth heading into the deadline, but has been waylaid by multiple injuries.

While Curtis doesn’t expect as active a deadline as in 2024, he’s skeptical that general manager Nico Harrison will fully stand pat and posits that Dallas could look to add a defense-first swingman.

There’s more out of the Lone Star State:

Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said on Wednesday that reserve guard Dante Exum, who has missed the entire season so far while recuperating from a right wrist surgery, is inching closer to a comeback, according to Curtis (Twitter link). “He’s trending in the right way,” Kidd said. “His wrist feels really good. He looks good. We’ll see how he does today/tomorrow. Hopefully that continues and we’ll get to see him sometime maybe on this trip. Maybe.” The Mavericks have four games remaining on their current five-game road trip.
Two-way Mavericks big man Kylor Kelley spoke to Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (subscriber exclusive) about his pro debut in a 130-108 Monday victory over Washington. “It was unreal, really. It was my first NBA regular season game,” the 27-year-old rookie told Afseth. “I had played one preseason game with L.A. back in October, but this was totally different. It was just awesome being out there. I wasn’t really feeling nervous, just excited, and had a lot of energy that I wanted to express on the court, and I thought I did that with the time that I got.” In eight minutes, Kelley score one point and grabbed four boards. He earned praise from Kidd for his efforts. “ I thought his activity and his talk… he was vocal for someone just to get here,” the Mavs’ coach said. “His voice could be heard on the floor, and that’s a great sign for a newcomer.”
Following four-game absence, Mavericks reserve forward Naji Marshall returned from an illness for Dallas’ 137-136 victory over New Orleans on Wednesday. Playing his first game since January 20, he was held to a minutes restriction, Afseth tweets. In 15 minutes of action, the 6’7″ wing scored five points on 2-of-5 shooting from the floor.

Southwest Notes: Kennard, Welts, Mavs, Murray, Spurs

December 18th, 2024 at 10:31am CST by Luke Adams

Grizzlies sharpshooter Luke Kennard has seen his playing time decline this season to 19.7 minutes per game, the second-lowest mark of his career, and was a DNP-CD last Friday for the first time in 2024/25.

However, Kennard earned praise from head coach Taylor Jenkins for providing Memphis with excellent minutes off the bench against the Lakers on Sunday. Although the Grizzlies lost the game by six points, Kennard was a +18 in 18 minutes of action, knocking down three 3-pointers.

“I give him a lot of credit,” Jenkins said (Twitter video link via Law Murray of The Athletic). “While the group’s been playing well and he was out of the rotation, he’s been putting in all the work. I thought he gave us a spark. It wasn’t even (just) him knocking down some shots. The way he was moving, he was cutting, he was driving, touching the paint, facilitating — just kind of ignited our offense.”

Among the three Grizzlies players who are on expiring contracts this season, Kennard has the highest cap hit at $9.25MM, so if his role doesn’t increase and Memphis looks to make an in-season move on the trade market, he could emerge as a candidate to be dealt by February 6.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

The Mavericks have hired former Warriors president and Hall of Fame executive Rick Welts as their new CEO, reports Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required). Welts, who is replacing Cynt Marshall when she retires on December 31, will oversee the Mavs’ business operations, while general manager Nico Harrison continues to oversee the basketball operations, but the two departments will “work closely together whenever possible,” Townsend explains. Both Welts and Harrison will report to Mavs governor Patrick Dumont.
Mavericks stars Luka Doncic (left heel contusion) and Kyrie Irving (right shoulder soreness) didn’t participate in practice on Tuesday, but neither injury appears to be a cause for major concern, says Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (Substack link).
A disastrous season in New Orleans that has seen the Pelicans lose 22 of their first 27 games has been made even worse by the struggles of offseason addition Dejounte Murray, writes William Guillory of The Athletic. The Pelicans gave up a significant trade package to acquire Murray from Atlanta in the hopes of solidifying their point guard position, but through his first 10 games, he has shot just 36.4% from the floor and 28.1% on three-pointers, both far below his career rates. Murray has also averaged a career-high 4.2 turnovers per game.
Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan appears to have reclaimed his spot in the team’s starting lineup, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required), which means that rookie Stephon Castle may no longer have a place in the starting five. Castle came off the bench on Sunday for the first time since November 4 and struggled in his new role, scoring just two points on 1-of-8 shooting. San Antonio was outscored by 23 points during his 23 minutes on the court.

Spurs Notes: M. Johnson, Popovich, Harrison, Castle, DeRozan

December 1st, 2024 at 7:22pm CST by Rory Maher

Assistant Mitch Johnson has compiled an 8-6 record in 2024/25 serving as acting head coach while Gregg Popovich recovers from what the Spurs called a “mild stroke.” While that record is impressive, particularly given what oddsmakers thought of the team entering the season, it doesn’t necessarily reflect how pleased the organization has been with Johnson’s performance.

According to Mike Finger of The San Antonio Express-News (subscriber link), there’s a “universal sentiment” from both the front office and the locker room that the team is “thrilled with how Johnson has carried himself.”

A former Stanford point guard, Johnson became a Spurs assistant in 2016, and was promoted to a front-of-bench role in 2019. As Finger observes, the 38-year-old also served as acting head coach for one game each in 2021 and 2023 when Popovich was unavailable, yet another sign of how highly San Antonio views him as a person and as a coach.

Here’s more on the Spurs:

There have been no real updates on Popovich’s status beyond San Antonio continuing to say that he’ll be out indefinitely, but Finger writes that there’s a “strong possibility that Johnson will remain in charge for at least a few months.” Obviously, that strongly suggests that Popovich’s return isn’t imminent.
Veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein hears the Spurs attempted to lure longtime Nike executive Nico Harrison away from the company “no less than three separate times” before he became the Mavericks‘ GM in 2021 (Substack link). Harrison, who now holds dual titles of GM and president of basketball operations, received a multiyear contract extension from Dallas in June.
No. 4 overall pick Stephon Castle is off to a strong start to his NBA career. Could he be the second consecutive Spur to win Rookie of the Year after Victor Wembanyama claimed the award last season? Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required) considers that question, and lists several other rookies who are early contenders to be named the league’s top rookie. “He’s a really physical player for a rookie, and especially for a guard,” said Utah coach Will Hardy, who has seen Castle five times already including a preseason matchup. “He seems to be poised and competitive. All signs are saying he’s a good player and a really tough kid.”
Ahead of Sunday’s matchup against DeMar DeRozan and the Kings, McDonald (subscriber link) revisits the offseason sign-and-trade that saw the Spurs acquire Harrison Barnes and a 2031 first-round pick swap (from Sacramento) and DeRozan land with the Kings. DeRozan was “beloved” during his three seasons with the Spurs, and he continues to pay dividends for the organization three-plus years after his departure, according to McDonald, who notes that Chicago still owes its top-10 protected 2025 first-round pick — and its 2025 second-rounder — to San Antonio from the 2021 sign-and-trade that sent the six-time All-Star to the Bulls.

Southwest Notes: Durant, Rockets, Cuban, Udoka, Williamson

November 25th, 2024 at 7:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Rockets’ interest in Kevin Durant has been overstated, Marc Stein reports in a Substack post. Stein wrote last month that there was a strong belief around the league that the Rockets were interested in a Durant deal.

Stein hears now that Houston is determined to prioritize internal development this season rather than looking to make a big move before the February trade deadline. Houston’s front office intends to prioritize timeline considerations, as much as talent and fit, when they do make their next major trade. The Rockets’ roster is loaded with younger players, featuring seven first-round picks who are 23 or younger.

Kelly Iko of The Athletic previously reported that the Rockets aren’t interested in breaking up their young core to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo. Of course, it’s worth noting that neither Durant nor Antetokounmpo is available at this time.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

Mark Cuban has essentially ceased going to Mavericks games on the road and there’s a big reason why, he told Stein. “The NBA got really, really, really petty and said that I can’t sit behind the bench anymore,” Cuban said. Stein points out that Cuban’s presence in the second row behind the bench was a violation of league rules but the league ignored it for many years when he was the franchise’s controlling owner. Cuban sold his majority stake in the Mavericks last year. Cuban talks to Mavs general manager Nico Harrison frequently but Patrick Dumont is the Mavericks’ official governor and operates as day-to-day owner, according to Cuban.
The Rockets’ strong start has been fueled by an improved defense and that’s no accident. Head coach Ime Udoka firmly believes that defense wins championships. “We’re only as good as our one-on-one defense,” Udoka told The Ringer’s Michael Pina. “We’re only as good as all our five on the court, and any weak link is exploited. Everything flows out from that philosophy, which makes a ton of sense on paper but is quite grueling in practice. It’s not a lot of schematics to it. There’s a lot of will and want to it, for sure. But it’s also very eye-opening when you show them the numbers from the previous few years in those areas. If you’re honestly tired of losing and want to change the perception of the team, I mean, that’s where we all start.”
The Pelicans have a lot of hard decisions to make in the coming months and offseason, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith opines. One thing they should seriously consider, in Smith’s view, is moving on from oft-injured Zion Williamson via the trade route or by getting out of his contract. He’s a dominant offensive force when healthy but his rebounding and defense is subpar, Smith notes. Due to a games played clause, the Pelicans can get out of Williamson’s contract after this season with no more than $7.8MM owed to him if he doesn’t appear in at least 41 total games this season. Williamson is currently out with another hamstring injury.

Mavs’ Harrison Discusses Jones’ Exit, Marshall, Grimes, Klay

July 16th, 2024 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

After the Mavericks were defeated by Boston in the NBA Finals last month, head of basketball operations Nico Harrison referred to re-signing Derrick Jones as the team’s “priority 1A and 1B.” When the team agreed to trade Tim Hardaway Jr. to Detroit in a cost-cutting move prior to free agency, it seemingly paved the way for Jones to return, but the defensive-minded wing signed with the Clippers instead.

Asked by Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required), why Jones didn’t end up back in Dallas and whether his 11th-hour agent change was a factor, Harrison suggested it wasn’t the Mavs’ decision to move on.

“Honestly, it’s a better question for him to answer,” Harrison said. “I mean, I don’t know. I guess he liked L.A. better than Dallas.”

Harrison admitted that he was somewhat surprised by Jones’ decision.

“Yeah,” he said. “But honestly, we have Naji (Marshall) and I’m excited about Naji. I did say (Jones) was 1A and 1B, and that’s how we approached it. That’s how we approached him for the whole year, in terms of how we approached him with respect and the love that we showed him and also the play that he had with our guys. He deserved it too, but he made his own choice. And we have Naji. We’re excited about Naji.”

Here are a few more highlights from Harrison’s conversation with Curtis:

On what new additions Marshall and Quentin Grimes will bring to Dallas:

“Naji’s a really good basketball player … He’ll be a really physical defender, which we’ve got good defense, but not physical. And he’s a physical (player), but he’s a good basketball player. He can shoot. He can really handle the ball. He’ll be able to drive the close out and he can make plays. So I think his skill level is kind of better than people know. And then Quentin, defensively, he’s elite and he can handle the ball and can shoot.”

On why he thinks the Mavericks, who don’t have a strong track record of landing impact free agents, appealed to Klay Thompson:

“I think winning. But before you get to the winning is the culture that we’re creating. I think when you create the right culture and people thrive in it, then I think people in the league take notice. They want to be a part of it.”

On how he expects Thompson to fit alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving:

“In terms of a basketball player, he’s one who’s relentless and has a crazy work ethic. He’s one of the best shooters the game has. I’m excited. Excited to have my team. And he’s a winner, too. I think we now have one of the best shooters in the NBA, maybe the best. And you add that to Luka and Kyrie, it’s only going to open up the floor. I think he opens up the floor for them and they open up the floor for him. I really think it’s a really good combination.”

On having made a series of changes to a roster that just appeared in the NBA Finals:

“It’s not like we added another ball-dominant scorer. We added complementary pieces that are really good. So I think you got to get better if you want to get back to where you were. If you just sit there, idling … the West is tough. Everybody in the West is getting better. You got to figure out how you can do it without disrupting the core makeup of the team because you don’t want to start training camp in ground zero. Now you bring in a few fresh faces, people that are additive they can fit in to what we’re already doing.”

Mavs’ Harrison Talks Offseason, Doncic, Jones, Assistants, More

June 21st, 2024 at 7:20pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Mavericks head of basketball operations Nico Harrison said that he doesn’t expect to make any significant changes this offseason to the core of the roster that won the Western Conference this spring.

“I think we have the pieces. I think we just need to get better ourselves,” Harrison said, per Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required). “Since I’ve been here, our front office staff has looked to make it better and we’ll continue to do that. But the core is intact. If you look at our top seven or eight players that really played. I don’t see anything happening with that.”

There has been speculation that the Mavericks could turn to the trade market in the coming weeks to make one more big move to solidify the team’s place as a legitimate title contender. While Harrison didn’t entirely rule out that possibility, noting that the front office is always open to ideas that would improve the roster, he suggested that they key to getting better is having Dallas’ own players come back “10 to 15% better.” That includes MVP runner-up Luka Doncic.

“We’re not where we’re at without Luka,” Harrison said, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “I think that’s important to point out, and we also won’t be able to get where we want to go without the best version of Luka. If you look at a guy who after Game 3 (of the NBA Finals) had the world on his neck — the scrutiny, which was crazy, the amount of scrutiny that he had to face — for him to focus in and do what he did in Game 4, I just think it just shows the character of him. He’s willing to fight through adversity, and I think he’s going to continue to get better.

“He’s 25 years old. I think just going through the Finals, him seeing what he needs to do to be at his best in the Finals after going through a grueling end of the year and then three tough, tough (playoff) matchups, I think you’re going to see the best version of him.”

Here are a few more of Harrison’s most notable comments from Friday’s presser, via Curtis, MacMahon, and Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com:

On his expectation that Doncic will play for Slovenia in its Olympic qualifying tournament next month:

“That’s probably one of his biggest joys. I think as long as he can walk, he’s probably going to go out there and play for them.”

On the Mavericks’ desire to re-sign Derrick Jones despite salary limitations:

“I don’t know how we’re going to do it, but he’s a priority. He’s priority one — 1A and 1B. I think he fits in with our team. He loves it here and we have to figure out obviously the dynamics to get him to stay. But that’s a priority and we’ll do what we have to do to get it done.”

On the importance of the playoff experience that four Mavs’ newcomers got this spring:

“To get to where we were, we relied on four players who had little to no playoff experience. (Dereck) Lively, (Daniel) Gafford, Derrick Jones and P.J. (Washington). Those four players played huge minutes for us and had little to no playoff experience. So how do they come back and incorporate that in their game from the start. I think that’s going to be huge.

“P.J. specifically, I think he can add a few more points a game, taking the ball off the rim, pushing it, posting up smaller players, shooting a little higher percentage from the three-point line, penetrating when they run him off the line. So he can add a few more points. And he’s going to. He’s poised to continue to get better. But the experience all four of those players got in the playoffs is going to carry them into next season.”

On assistant coaches Sean Sweeney and Jared Dudley drawing interest from rival teams:

“We love both of them and we respect them. They’ve been valuable in getting us to where we’re at, but at the same time, it’s about people. Our goal is to develop players and staff. If opportunities present themselves, we’re going to support them. They know how much we want them back, but it’s about growth. You can’t hamstring players or staff from growing. We’re going to support them, but we do want them back. We’re hopeful that they’ll be back.”

Mavericks Notes: Doncic, Jones, Roster, Cuban

June 18th, 2024 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of the Mavericks‘ disastrous finish to the 2022/23 season, there was plenty of speculation a year ago about Luka Doncic‘s future in Dallas, with some media members suggesting the team would have to make real strides within the next year or two in order to secure the star guard’s long-term commitment.

Following an NBA Finals run this spring, that no longer seems like a concern, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, who says all indications are that Doncic will be willing to sign a super-max extension in July 2025 once he has the necessary seven years of NBA service. The 25-year-old said after Monday’s season-ending loss that he feels “great” about the Mavs’ future.

“We did some great (personnel) moves,” Doncic said. “I would say we’ve been together for five months. I’m proud of every guy that stepped on the floor, all the coaches, all the people behind (the scenes). Obviously, we didn’t win Finals, but we did have a hell of a season.”

Doncic’s enthusiasm about the franchise’s direction is shared by his backcourt partner Kyrie Irving, who is under contract in Dallas for at least the next two seasons.

“I just feel like the sky’s the limit,” Irving said, per MacMahon. “I have an opportunity to be on a special team that can be one of the teams that dominates in this era. That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out the past few years, of how to be on a great team, be in an organization where I’m trusted, and also we’re able to succeed and fail together, and doing it in a way where we still have each other’s backs, and no one is giving up on the dream or the goal. Our goal is still to win a championship.”

Here’s more on the Mavs:

Based on their current salary projections, Dallas won’t be able to offer more than the taxpayer mid-level exception (about $5.2MM) to free agent forward Derrick Jones, though the team could potentially open up some or all of the non-taxpayer MLE ($12.9MM) with some tweaks to the roster, MacMahon writes. Mavs general manager Nico Harrison wants to find a way to bring back Jones. “He’s a part of our core going forward, so hopefully we can figure that out,” Harrison told ESPN.
Regarding the rest of the roster, Harrison said he likes where it stands but acknowledged that there’s always room for improvements. “I think we have a really good core and really good complementary pieces,” Harrison told MacMahon. “Having said that, I mean, I’ve been here for two years and so I think my reputation is starting to (form). If there’s an opportunity to make it better, I’m going to do that for sure.”
Former Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban no longer has control of the team’s basketball operations, MacMahon confirms. Still, as Howard Beck of The Ringer writes, Cuban – now a minority stakeholder – can take credit for three risky moves that set up the club for this year’s success: hiring Harrison as GM; hiring Jason Kidd as head coach; and trading for Irving. Harrison had worked at Nike rather than for an NBA team, Kidd had been fired from two previous head coaching jobs, and Irving’s value had fallen due to injury issues and off-court controversies. “For sure, they were risks,” Cuban told Beck. “I mean, there were a lot of people who just like rolled their eyes at me. But each of them brought a unique set of skills to the table that I didn’t have, that the organization hadn’t had, and I thought were valuable and important.”
Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) previews the offseason in Dallas, writing that the Mavericks have some trade assets available – including its 2025 and 2031 first-round picks and Tim Hardaway‘s expiring contract – and suggesting they could use another play-making guard, perimeter depth, and a floor-spacing big man.

Southwest Notes: Harrison, Kyrie, J. Smith, Spurs

June 6th, 2024 at 8:34pm CST by Luke Adams

When Mark Cuban, the majority owner of the Mavericks at the time, first reached out to longtime Nike executive Nico Harrison about the team’s general manager vacancy in 2021, Harrison declined an invitation to talk about the job, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic. However, Harrison eventually decided to listen to what Cuban had to say and came around to the idea of accepting the top front office role in Dallas.

“We talked for an hour,” Harrison said of his initial conversation with Cuban. “He told me his process, which was going to go for a few weeks. And then the next day, he skipped the process and wanted to hire me. I think he was just thinking outside the box. And the one thing he always says is that I had a real job. He respected the background that I had at Nike and all the people that were in my organization, managing the budget and all that stuff. He always says, ‘You had a real job. You had a real job.’ So I think that was one of the things.”

During his time at Nike, Harrison established a relationship with Kyrie Irving, which came in handy at the 2023 trade deadline when the star guard became available with his stock near an all-time low following a handful of off-court controversies. As Amick details, that relationship emboldened Harrison to “ignore the outside noise,” as he puts it, and take a shot on Irving.

“I don’t want to call it a life raft or lifeline, but it was like family reaching out,” Irving told Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. “… This has been the greatest … portion of my career. To be able to now give wisdom and also speak from a place of experience. When you’re a young person, again, you’re trying to speed through life, you’re trying to get through everything.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Acting as an “NBA correspondent” at Wednesday’s NBA Finals media day, Rockets forward Jabari Smith asked Celtics star Jayson Tatum what advice he’d give to a young player entering his third season who feels like he hadn’t lived up to his pre-draft expectations. That characterization describes Smith, who made major strides in his second season but apparently believes he should have accomplished more after being drafted third overall in 2022. According to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required), Tatum advised Smith to avoid rushing the process. “It takes however long it takes,” Tatum said. “But as long as you work hard, you believe, you got the right support system — obviously, you do down in Houston; I know all those guys, coaches — everything will take care of itself how it’s supposed to.”
Kelly Iko and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic analyze the Spurs‘ options in the draft as they weigh how to best build around franchise player Victor Wembanyama. Vecenie loves the potential fit of UConn’s Stephon Castle next to Wembanyama, but says San Antonio should entirely rule out UConn’s other lottery talent, Donovan Clingan, since the two big men wouldn’t fit alongside one another. Vecenie also suggests that the Spurs should be open to trading down for extra value if Clingan is still on the board at No. 4 or even at No. 8.
Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required) takes a closer look at Matas Buzelis‘ skill set and considers how he might fit with the Spurs, outlining the case for San Antonio to use one of its two lottery picks on the former G League Ignite forward.

Load More Posts