The Athletic: Inside the Mavericks front office, Mark Cuban’s shadow GM…

[Kammrath]

Highlights of Locked on Mavs followup podcast, with Tim Cato --

Tim was not unearthing any rumors. The rumors he reported had already spread pretty widely within the league.

A main point -- Luka has NOT indicated that he wants out, or that he is likely to want out. But there is a fear that if the Mavs don't start winning, he will want out. Not because Luka has delivered any threats. But because any fan of any non-contending team with a superstar would have this fear. And it would be legitimate.  

Rick has adapted to Luka's needs and desires. And to incorporating a lot of Bob's suggestions, which he probably agrees with anyway. There is just still a question of whether that will be enough for Luka to want to go to war with him. 

The 2020 draft was reported on because it was a turning point moment in the power structure dynamics. Donnie had always been responsible for the draft, and the scouting department had always had a role. On draft night, when it became clear that Bob was making the picks, he was not consulting the scouts, and in fact did not pick the guys the scouts wanted suddenly laid the "real" power structure bare, in terms of whom Mark was listening to. 

Having said that, the fact that Johnson and Iwundu didn't work out ended up making the draft picks look worse than they probably really were. No one on draft night thought that any of the rookies were NBA-ready. The draft incident wasn't so much noteworthy for the picks themselves, as for bringing down the veil on the power structure. 

Cato knows who the scouts wanted, but chose not to report it, because then the story would just end up being about that, and he didn't think that was fair to Josh Green. But says that others may report it, and thinks it may even have already been reported. 

Cato thinks bringing in a new voice was actually a good idea, given the front office's track record. It was implemented poorly, which might make it seem like it was a worse plan than it was. The fear continues to exist that the organization does not have the people in place who are capable of putting and keeping a contending team around Luka. 

Tim has heard no information indicating that the team is trying to trade KP, or that Luka and KP have any animosity between them. What info he has heard has been treated with lower importance by his sources than the front office matters.