12-20-2021, 04:39 PM
(12-20-2021, 04:05 PM)F Gump Wrote: When you are saying the Mavs should not have given the reins to someone like that, I certainly agree with you. Nico did not have "the stature and gravitas" as a GM to make demands. The Mavs needed someone who would already KNOW how to do the job expertly, or near that, not learn it over time in the Mavs offices.
But (1) Cuban would argue otherwise as to Nico's degree of qualifications for the job, and (2) the negotiation was what it was, not necessarily as it "should have."
Most importantly, based on how all the parties described it, Nico, not Cuban, was the one pursuing "Nico as GM" --- Cuban wanted the deal the most.
Sorry, I don't get it. If it was Nico, and not Cuban, who was the one pursuing the Nico as GM position, how would that have given Nico control?
That gave Nico control, justified or not, to set terms and conditions, even though Nico was not bringing any GM expertise whatsoever to the table. Plus, Nico has said explicitly that he made it a condition that he would make the GM-ing decisions, so there's that.
When did he say that? I have only heard him say that Cuban is in charge.
No one has said otherwise. Well, unless you consider Nico himself saying that he works for Cuban and Cuban is in charge such a statement.
Cuban's weakness as a negotiator cannot be denied, and there's no reason to think this was any different.
I'm not sure where we're getting these ultimatums by Nico that he won't take the position unless he makes all the decisions. Do you have a reference? Everything I have heard him say, including last night's interview, was very self-effacing -- emphasizing there is a lot he doesn't know, and he's not in a position to be making decisions yet.
IMO This was classic Cuban style - to try to discover an answer no one else would have considered. Less expensive hire, perhaps, given the lack of a track record. But once he was set on having to have Nico be the hire, then Nico could define parameters, which it has always sounded like he did.
I get the Cuban tendency to go some contrarian route and claim to be the smartest guy in the room. But it would be VERY unlike Cuban to surrender control of his business to a guy who doesn't know anything -- even to a guy who does, for that matter.
I haven't seen anything to indicate that Nico is rampaging through the organization making decisions without regard to Cuban. Maybe I have missed it. If you know of such, spill!