Mark Cuban is famous for a lot of things, but perhaps most for his appearances on ABC’s popular TV show: Shark Tank. The common saying for the sharks when they pass on an investment opportunity is, “for those reasons, I’m out”. During Mark Cuban’s tenure of governor of the Dallas Mavericks, he hasn’t had to deal with many controversial departures or dysfunction at the basketball level. Now, with the recent revelations of the past week, it seems the biggest fear within the Mavericks’ organization is that Luka Doncic one day may turn the tables on Cuban, with the front office failures, lackluster rosters, and mediocre improvement, and go, “for those reasons, I’m out”.
The incessant news of the past week highlighting the dysfunction within the Dallas Mavericks, kicking off with a terrific piece authored by Tim Cato and Sam Amick of The Athletic, has led to sweeping changes in Dallas. During Cuban’s tenure as governor one thing has been relatively constant: his desire for stability, or, at least, the appearance of stability. We now know that Dallas’ reputation as a stable, well-run franchise was a façade, but it is true the Mavericks hadn’t hired a new head coach or general manager since 2008, when Rick Carlisle got the job from Avery Johnson. That’s thirteen years of stability at the highest ranks of the organization, something only successful franchises have been able to replicate, like the San Antonio Spurs. However, the Dallas Mavericks haven’t experienced success in ten years. The last time the Mavericks won a playoff series? The 2011 NBA Finals. No, the Mavericks are not the Kings or Timberwolves who are perennial lottery teams, but they are also not the Spurs, Heat, or Warriors. They are not the model franchise they think they are. Surely, it seemed like it was time for a change; however, the matter in which change has occurred is rooted in dysfunction.
When Mark Cuban referred to Tim Cato’s article in The Athletic as “total BS”, it was pretty easy to tell he was lying. The irony was evident when, not even 48 hours later, Donnie Nelson was fired as the general manager. Cato’s article detailed the power struggle between Nelson, a long-time Mavericks’ employee who is a prolific European scout and Haralabos “Bob” Voulgaris, a professional gambler known for his innovative use of analytics and artificial intelligence to create an edge. To top off Nelson’s departure, Rick Carlisle, one of the longest tenured coaches in the NBA, resigned from his post on Thursday after reports detailing his “simmering tension” with superstar Luka Doncic were revealed. Now, a franchise that has at least upheld an appearance of stability is plunged into deep uncertainty. This is seemingly the Mavericks’ final chance at meaningfully upgrading the roster before their cap situation becomes dicey due to Luka Doncic’s impending supermax and Kristaps Porzingis’ deal, and they enter a consequential summer without a general manager and head coach.
It’s tough to tell where things stand for the Dallas Mavericks right now. On the one hand, moving on from Donnie Nelson and having Rick Carlisle resign brings in new faces and new ideas, something that should occur after ten straight years of failure. The circumstances in which they depart, ones filled with dysfunction, power struggles, and a lack of camaraderie throughout the organization, signals that bigger changes are needed, all of which start at the top with Mark Cuban. However, as bleak as things seem, plenty of hope remains. Luka Doncic, by all accounts, will sign a five year supermax contract. On his recent episode of the “Woj Pod”, Adrian Wojnarowski said we are in a perpetual state of free agency due to players being empowered to request trades regardless of how many years remain on their contract. However, if history is any indication, the odds of Doncic demanding out of Dallas are extremely slim to none for at least 2-3 more years, barring something catastrophic. And, in news that is welcomed by all Mavericks’ fans, Dirk Nowitzki is returning to the team as a special advisor. Those are two slivers of hope in a dark time, and that’s before we mention how impressive Dallas’ first round performance against the Los Angeles Clippers looks now, especially after they beat the vaunted Utah Jazz in only six games with Kawhi Leonard missing two of them.
We can aim to paint a rosy picture, but at the end of the day, major changes are needed to give the Mavericks a proper makeover so that instead of pretending to be a model franchise, they can actually be a model franchise. Over the past week, here’s some of my biggest takeaways along with possible solutions to their problems:
The Mavericks Need to be More Human
Tim Cato and Sam Amick put on a masterclass of journalism with their Mavericks “tell all” released last Monday, but the most shocking pieces of news for me came later in the week, when ESPN’s Tim MacMahon appeared on three different podcasts: The Lowe Post with Zach Lowe, The Hoop Collective with Brian Windhorst (and Tim Bontemps was on that episode as well), and The Woj Pod with Adrian Wojnarowski. The reason I viewed MacMahon’s appearances as shocking is because of the bombshells he dropped, particularly about Dallas’ organizational structure and the vibe within the building. This one specific quote from MacMahon was specifically harrowing:
“It’s a franchise that has not been careful and cautious enough about the human element”
-Tim MacMahon from the Lowe Post
This is a damning assessment of the organization and the one that must change quickly. Aside from it being good for business, it’s also basic decency to focus on the human element of anything, not just the business side. The examples MacMahon used in the episode were particularly bad and, in hindsight, look even worse. Take Salah Mejri for instance. Mejri, a former Mavericks’ reserve who was an end of bench player for much of his career, was teammates with Luka Doncic in Real Madrid and both were close friends. In MacMahon’s words, Salah viewed himself as Rick Carlisle’s “whipping boy” and Doncic took note of that. MacMahon mentioned how the tension between Carlisle and Doncic was mainly a clash of personalities and the Mejri incident was one example. In fact, there’s even a viral video from Carlisle cursing out Mejri during a game as he got ejected that can be viewed here. Mejri was a bit of a character, even earning the nickname “The Mej” from Dirk Nowitzki due to his different personality on the court. But, Mejri is human and deserved far more respect than he got in incidents like the one above. (As a reference, that clip is prior to when Doncic was with the Mavericks, but does add some credence to MacMahon’s point).
The problem is Rick Carlisle solely didn’t butt heads with Salah Mejri: he has a long track record of struggling in relationship management, which is becoming more and more important as a trait for head coaches to have. No longer are we in an era where players want to get berated and play for a disciplinarian who deploys “tough love” (which, in my opinion, is a fancy way for saying they can be a jerk); rather, players want to play a coach who they relate to, who they can connect with, and, to take MacMahon’s verbatim, a coach who emphasizes the human element. That’s not to say Rick Carlisle is some heartless, cold human being; he’s absolutely not and from all indications, he’s an incredibly nice, thoughtful, and caring man. He is an awesome guy and my point should not be that Rick Carlisle is some villain (he’s going to be incredibly successful in his next stop). However, on the court, his reputation is that he’s a tough guy who, as MacMahon puts it, “runs hot”. Coaches like Jim Boylen, Stan Van Gundy, Tom Thibodeau (in past stops) have all worn out their welcome rather quickly in recent years and this goes for other sports as well. The list of players who have not gotten along with Rick is rather long: Rajon Rondo, Darren Collison, Nerlens Noel, Dennis Smith Jr., Chandler Parsons, Luka Doncic, Salah Mejri, and more. Players who have bought into Rick’s philosophies have thrived and it’s hard to find examples of players who performed worse in Dallas than in other places (aside from Rajon Rondo) But, as the times have been turning and with the ongoing friction with Doncic, it seemed like a natural time for Carlisle to leave alongside his friend Donnie Nelson.
Dallas’ lack of care and caution around the human element (as MacMahon says) goes way beyond Coach Carlisle and, in my opinion, has its root cause within the front office. Once again, MacMahon lists ample ways the Mavericks’ franchise has hurt their reputation, including the Harrison Barnes’ trade that occurred mid-game (while Barnes sat on the bench), and agent Bill Duffy’s poor relationship with the franchise. The Duffy angle is particularly interesting, as Duffy is Luka Doncic’s agent. Duffy also served as Steve Nash’s agent and when Nash left the Mavericks, Mark Cuban blasted Duffy in a thousand word blog post that can still be found here. Cuban, who is never shy to let his opinions be known, is a major reason why the Bill Duffy angle is still a concern, along with all of Duffy’s clients who butted heads with Rick Carlisle. But, this once again goes beyond Bill Duffy and into other examples, namely with Bob Voulgaris. Voulgaris was the primary focus of The Athletic’s article, as it appears he has gotten hold of Mark Cuban’s ear, leading to ample dysfunction. I’ll save the finer details for Cato and Amick, since they deserve all the views on their awesome piece, but one thing that strikes me is this: Voulgaris is not well-liked within the organization. Tim MacMahon said, “To put it bluntly: Bob Voulgaris is incredibly arrogant” and implied it’s not hard to find people in the Mavericks’ front office willing to talk bad about him. Cuban is clearly enamored with Voulgaris’ data skills and insights (and his love of crypto, something Cuban loves as well), ones he parlayed into making millions as a gambler. However, through all the reports, it’s evident he deeply lacks personal skills, including having friction with Luka Doncic. In my opinion, Voulgaris can have the greatest data insights known to man, but if people don’t like working with him, then who cares? Understanding data and leveraging it into powerful information isn’t a proprietary, rare skill anymore.
Truthfully, this specific point shouldn’t be too hard for the Mavericks, but for some reason, it seems difficult. Getting the “human” part right is essential to a winning organization and it starts with getting the right people on board. First, this means Bob Voulgaris has to go. Voulgaris has clearly worn out his welcome among the Dallas’ staff and even if they entirely clean house, his relationship with Doncic is enough cause to not renew his contract. Sam Amick even mentioned on The Rich Eisen Show that he’s never reported on an issue where so many people don’t like a guy, related to Voulgaris. This is the easiest decision of all-time, yet, with Voulgaris seemingly being buddies with Cuban , I’m not sure if it’s a definite that Bob will be out.
Regardless of the Voulgaris issue, which has a very simple solution staring everyone right in the face, Dallas has to nail the head coach and general manager hire. Hiring the general manager then the head coach is the right method and it appears Cuban is following that, hiring Mike Forde’s firm, Sportsology, to conduct a consultation on the basketball operations search. Cuban did hire Dirk Nowitzki as the special advisor and is utilizing Michael Finley for the search too, which does question whether he’s already undermining his own decision to hire the consulting firm. I’m not sure who the best President of Basketball Operations would be in Dallas, but I would like Michael Finley (Dallas’ current VP of Basketball Operations), Masai Ujiri (Toronto’s VP of Basketball Operations), Calvin Booth (Denver’s VP of Basketball Strategy & Analytics), Peter Dinwiddie (Philadelphia’s Executive VP of Basketball Operations), and Adam Simon (Miami’s VP of Basketball Operations/Assistant General Manager).
The head coaching position is a really essential hire simply because this person will be the closest point of contact with Luka Doncic. I’m not terribly picky about the President of Basketball Ops position, in large part because if Bob Voulgaris is gone, it’ll make a lot of things much easier. However, I am picky about the head coach. To me, there are three names who Dallas shouldn’t touch: Mike D’Antoni, Terry Stotts, and Jason Kidd. D’Antoni has run some prolific offenses in his career, but he’s never made the NBA Finals and the Mavericks don’t need a master offensive tactician, especially when they’ve boasted historically good offenses with Luka Doncic on the court. Terry Stotts is a kind individual who his players have vouched for, but his teams in Portland always seemed to be a step behind in adjustments. Stotts was on the 2011 championship staff and has a great offensive mind, but his defenses in Portland constantly disappointed with the drop defense scheme and I don’t think he’d be a step beneath Carlisle, except likely wouldn’t have friction with players. There are much better options. As for Jason Kidd, he’s easily the least appealing option to me. Kidd had a domestic violence incident in 2001 and has a history of making power plays, including incidents with the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets. Yes, Kidd did win a title with the Mavericks in 2011, but I don’t understand Dallas’ reported interest here at all. Kidd has failed in every coaching stop, he has a troubling record of incidents, and, he pulled a DeAndre Jordan before it was cool on the Mavericks in 2012, when he backed out of a commitment to return to the Mavericks. I wouldn’t touch Kidd with a ten foot pole if I was making the decision.
For me, the head coaching candidates are slim, but there are some really good ones available. By far, my #1 choice is Jamahl Mosley, who was Rick Carlisle’s lead assistant and has terrific relationships with players across the league. Luka Doncic is incredibly fond of Mosley and gave him a ringing endorsement earlier this year. In my opinion, Mosley is the obvious choice, especially for an organization that has to emphasize the human element. Becky Hammon (current Spurs assistant), Nate Oats (current Alabama head coach), Eric Musselman (current Arkansas head coach), and Wes Unseld Jr. (current Nuggets assistant) are other options, along with Dirk, if he’s willing (which I doubt he is). J.J. Barea, a Mavericks’ legend, has expressed interest on joining the bench next season and I’d personally be all for that, especially considering his close relationship with Luka and Kristaps Porzingis. Igor Kokoskov, the former Slovenian National Team’s head coach, could be another option for an assistant role, but ultimately, I’d really like to see one of Mosley, Hammon, Oats, Musselman, or Unseld Jr. get the job. If Dallas did hire Calvin Booth, it would make sense for him to bring along Unseld Jr., but I have no reports that Dallas is even interested in Booth, just merely a name to throw out.
Mark Cuban Must Be Less Involved
For as badly as the Mavericks need to be more “human”, they just as badly need Mark Cuban to be less involved as the kingmaker. Tim MacMahon detailed the power structure of the front office and as he described, Cuban was essentially the President of Basketball Operations. He reportedly signs off on all deals and wavers on who he listens to. The irony is quite strong, as the Dallas Cowboys’ owner, Jerry Jones, is infamous for how involved he is on personnel decisions. It appears that the Mavericks’ governor is not very different. MacMahon cited multiple individuals over the year who have been Cuban’s right hand man or, as he refers to them, as “shadow GMs”. The list has ranged from Bob Voulgaris, to Chandler Parsons, to the actual GM Donnie Nelson, to the late Dan Fegan, who was an agent.
Personally, I strongly believe the root of Dallas’ front office dysfunction and their failures to build a championship-caliber roster over the past ten years is Mark Cuban. Simply from an organizational standpoint, if Cuban is always making the deals and varying who he listens to, how is that constructive for anyone? Cuban naturally wants to be involved; after all, it is fun building a roster (it’s why we write about it so frequently). However, in order to improve, Cuban has to take a significant step back in his involvement. Cuban has never been successful in building a roster and, in something that is rare for him, he’s failed in nearly every free agency pitch he’s made. Deron Williams mentioned how Cuban not showing up to his free agency meeting with the Mavericks was a very big deal for him. Dallas whiffed on Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Mike Conley, Hassan Whiteside, DeAndre Jordan, and more. You name a free agent, odds are the Mavericks didn’t sign him. And, to make matters worse, Cuban was also the individual who didn’t listen to Donnie Nelson when he advocated for drafting Giannis Antetokounmpo and instead opted to trade down, to save fractions of cap space to pursue Dwight Howard.
Cuban’s track record of personnel decisions is incredibly poor. Dallas’ strategies have gotten rather vanilla too; they went from chasing a “big fish” every year and maximizing the cap space to do so, to overpaying restricted free agents, to then opting for value contracts and retaining inferior, in-house options rather than aggressively seeking upgrades. There’s nothing innovating about how Dallas has built a team. Cuban has to give the reigns over to a new front office; if he does, I feel fairly confident the Mavericks will build a title-worthy team within the next few seasons.
Dallas’ Team Building Strategies Must Evolve
I just alluded to this specific point, but this area is the one I’m most excited about regarding a new front office. I still have my doubts whether Cuban will hire the correct people and allow said new executives to build the team relatively freely, but if so, there should be a new strategy, likely one that values draft picks to a higher degree. Over the past ten drafts (2011-2020), the Mavericks have used their first round pick on a player in just 60% of years; if you adjust it from 2012-2021, they’ll have had a pick in 50% of years. That’s a pitiful rate; yes, some of the trades were home runs (Luka Doncic), or fairly good (Tim Hardaway Jr./KP deal), but you also have the bust of the Rajon Rondo deal that cost the Mavericks a pick, and the Tyson Chandler rental where Dallas gave up another pick. When Dallas has had a pick, they’ve often missed; here’s a list of their six drafted first-round players from 2011-2020:
- F-Jordan Hamilton
- C-Tyler Zeller (traded for Jared Cunningham, Bernard James, and Jae Crowder)
- C-Kelly Olynyk (traded for Shane Larkin)
- G-Justin Anderson
- G-Dennis Smith Jr.
- G-Trae Young (traded for Luka Doncic)
- G-Josh Green
That is a horrible track record drafting and, when combined with their free agency failures, illustrates how inept Dallas’ front office has been at building a good roster over the past decade. Sure, players like Dirk and Luka have kept them extremely competitive, but considering how much talent is around the league, it’s natural to ask how has Dallas not gotten more?
I think, for starters, Dallas would be better off putting stronger value on the draft. Once Luka Doncic’s supermax kicks in, Dallas will have to add cheap talent and the best way to do so is through the draft. I have faith that Josh Green, Tyrell Terry, and Tyler Bey will all be solid rotation guys at minimum and with a different coach, they’re likely to see more playing time as well. I’d really like to see Dallas’ front office consistently use the draft as their primary method of team building, rather than free agency swings. That could start with buying into the second round this year.
Is There a Future for Kristaps Porzingis in Dallas?
I’ll have plenty of content regarding Dallas’ free agency and actual team building strategies, so I’ll touch on this one fairly quickly. Tim MacMahon mentioned this past week that Porzingis doesn’t particularly love playing in Dallas and the relationship between him and Luka isn’t great. With the old regime, I would have put the odds of Porzingis remaining in Dallas around 50-60%. It’s always tough for a group of individuals to move on from a transaction they inevitably tied their future to, primarily because it seems like an admission of defeat. However, with a new regime, I could see Porzingis getting traded, although I do think Cuban wants to see how the duo develops.
Personally, I’m a bit on the fence of trading Porzingis. I’ll dive into this more as the off-season progresses, but here’s a few things I believe with full confidence:
- If Dallas wanted to trade Porzingis, they can. We heard that Andrew Wiggins, Al Horford, Kemba Walker, etc. were “untradeable”, yet all got traded. Yes, it might take a sweetener to get plus value, but the Mavericks can get something decent for Porzingis, if they want.
- I personally wouldn’t trade Porzingis just to trade him; example, if the Thunder offered Kemba Walker for Kristaps straight up, I’d decline. Unless you can add in some level of talent that upgrades over Kristaps, rather than just swapping max level deals because two guys need a change of scenery, there’s no point in a trade.
- If Jamahl Mosley gets hired, I think the Mavericks go back to a 50-60% chance to retain Porzingis. Things get easier and more relaxed for everyone once a lot of the tension is diffused.
- Kristaps Porzingis is not a bad basketball player; look at the second round, where Ben Simmons and Rudy Gobert were brutally targeted for their flaws. Porzingis is the same, the problem is Dallas’ roster isn’t good enough where Porzingis’ flaws aren’t a critical failure.
Going Forwards
Personally, I’m not buying into the Luka Doncic’s long-term future mania. Doncic has given no indication he dislikes being in Dallas; the Zion Williamson article in The Athletic is an example of a long-term future I’d be concerned about. But Luka’s? Relax. Luka reportedly loves Dirk and MacMahon, despite all the ugly stuff mixed in, said something along the lines of believing that Luka wants to spend his whole career in Dallas. Now, Luka isn’t Dirk, so blind loyalty won’t happen (odds are). However, if the Mavericks are in the running for a championship most years, who’s to say he won’t spend his whole career here? There seems to be almost an eagerness amongst most media members (not Cato, Amick, MacMahon, or Wojnarowski, but certainly some others) to assign Luka to New York or another big market, but no indications from Luka himself gave any credence to those pundits’ attempts.
Things are certainly embarrassing for the Mavericks right now. A lot of fans wanted change, but the manner in which this change came about certainly was not ideal. However, change is also exciting; it could lead to new ideas, a more relaxed atmosphere, and ultimately, a brighter future. It’s a consequential off-season for the Mavericks and one they cannot afford to mess up. It all starts with that initial hire; it’ll detail a lot about the direction Dallas goes, what moves they make, and ultimately, could be the beginning of whether or not Luka says, “I’m out” to Mark Cuban further down the road.
The Chirp 