IZTOK DIAGNOSES DECLINE OF MAVS OFFENSE

[mavsluvr]

"Most importantly, based on how all the parties described it, Cuban, not Nico, was the one pursuing "Nico as GM" --- Cuban wanted the deal the most. 

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. 

I don't know how we would possibly know whether Cuban or Nico wanted the deal the most. I have never heard any of the parties describe it that way. Where is that coming from? But even if we knew it were true (which we don't, afaik), Cuban's wanting the deal more than Nico might have given Nico a negotiating advantage, but that doesn't translate into Nico having the power to set whatever unjustified terms and conditions suited his fancy, without bringing any expertise to the table. 


Nico said it explicitly very early, and always, that he would NOT have had any interest in the job if it didn't come with the authority to make all the decisions that GMs typically make. (I didn't catalog the where and when Nico spoke, and it's been too long ago to point to the specific interviews, but it was said in that way in two or more. Whenever the question of his authority to make decisions was asked, he said it clearly. He didn't shy away. He knew the stories.) I think that the only way anyone could have missed it was to either simply not have heard Nico, or to filter his words to fit an expectation that he could not be making decisions in light of where he came from. 

I am not saying that didn't happen, but if it were such common knowledge that there is no way anyone could have missed it, you would think the stories would be retrievable, and we can't seem to find anything on it. Even if Nico did say he wanted total power, people say all kinds of stuff. Have we ever heard Cuban say that Nico has total power? I suppose it is possible that Nico thought he had total power, but I don't know if Cuban thought that. To wit, Gersson Rosas. 


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. 

I agree that Nico is soft-spoken and self-effacing, but that is definitely NOT a definer of whether he has quiet-but-strong confidence, whether he knows his worth, and whether he would insist on what he feels is necessary to do the job right. More than that, of course, is that he told us who he is, when he said he would not have taken the job without full authority. The lion doesn't have to tell you he's a lion, to be a lion.

A reason I find it weird that Nico would say that he has the total power to make decisions is that it doesn't seem to fit his personality to go around making, "Look at me, I'm such a big man, I'm showing Cuban who's boss, he's not telling me what to do" kinds of statements. According to the reports I have seen/heard, his role for many years wrt his customers has been more of a "wind-beneath-their-wings" sort of position, where part of his job was to be very careful not to be seen as trying to put himself front and center.

If someone specifically asked him if he had the power to make the decisions incident to his position, I can't imagine that he would have said, "No, I'm just a figurehead," no matter what the underlying situation was. What else was he supposed to say, except that he wanted to make the decisions incident to the position?


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.

The fact that an employer wants to hire someone doesn't at all mean that the employee can unilaterally define the terms of his employment. I mean, you seem to imply that he couldn't demand whatever salary suited him. I don't know why Cuban's wanting to hire him would imply that he could demand whatever power suited him. 

What is the point of all this, one may ask. I think it is part of a search for accountability and whether the "cultural reset" is real in an organization that seems to be drowning in dysfunction. 

We have several possibilities here. 

-- Cuban surrendered all decision-making (other than normal owner-level oversight) to Nico, not realizing that Nico was unqualified for the job (or perhaps thinking that the job doesn't require much in the way of expertise or experience). If this is the case, then we know that Cuban hasn't learned anything in 20+ years of ownership, and is still making hires based on who his buds are, and who will just let Mark be Mark. 

-- Cuban surrendered all decision-making (other than normal owner-level oversight) to Nico, knowing that he was unqualified for the job, because Nico required that as a condition of being hired.  I don't buy that Cuban is the smartest guy in the room, but I don't accuse him of being stupid. If this is what happened, then we know Cuban is just out to lunch, and the situation is hopeless. 

-- Cuban didn't surrender any decision-making to Nico, although he pretended he did, and is using Nico as a foil for casting blame when/if things go south. 

-- Cuban realized when he hired Nico that he wasn't prepared to slot in to the job immediately. He delegated some very important duties to Nico, duties that he thought Nico was prepared to handle. He did not give Nico final organizational responsibility over areas that he knows little about. Nico may or may not realize that he doesn't have final say over all matters. This is what I lean to believing Mark thought he was doing in making the hire. If there is a lack of clarity among the players as to who has authority, that is a bad thing. 


Cubes appears to be trying to present an image of collegial decision-making (for example, with a leadership council of several key voices), while making it clear that final decisions rest with him. He retains primary responsibility for being the guy who deals with the media and speaks on behalf of the organization regarding matters great and small. 

One can pick any of the above possibilities (or others) as a hypothesis, I guess, but I don't think the fat lady has sung at this point. I think we can all keep our eyes open as things develop and we can further solidify our thoughts about how things are changing (or not) at this ailing organization. 

Thanks for all the thoughts, FG.