06-18-2021, 12:10 AM
Highlights from Take Dat Wit You emergency pod (Dameris and Followill) --
The Athletic article exposed a lot of things people have been hearing about for a while.
The Donnie-Rick decisions were not made in the last 48 hours. The article itself didn’t cause the shakeup. It may have been the last straw, but the problems have been ongoing.
Donnie and Rick
New GMs who inherit established structures usually keep things intact for a year or so, and then make a bunch of wholesale changes. Rick probably saw the handwriting on the wall wrt probable changes in a year, and so left now, with a lot of great openings out there. It would probably have been unpleasant for him staying here and being constantly on the hot seat for a season, after all his history with the Mavs and at this point in his life.
From the Mavs’ point of view, it might have made sense not to risk wasting a season with a make-good year giving Donnie/Rick a last chance. Teams like Phoenix and Atlanta have passed the Mavs up, and the team is feeling the pressure of an accelerated timeline.
Rick broke the news to Woj, rather than Stein, which indicates that he wanted to control the narrative, rather than filter it through the team.
Rick’s departure should not be taken as a sign that the team had lost confidence in Rick’s coaching ability. Mark wanted him to stay, subject to the new GM’s wishes.
This will have ramifications throughout the organization, including assistant coaches, video coordinators, scouts, etc.
Will be no shortage of opportunities for both Donnie and Rick.
New President/GM.
Mavs will be active on draft night, in case something happens where they get a chance to get someone. So would be good to get a new GM by then.
Probable that there will be two top management roles. President, and GM. The president is the overall strategist. Then you have someone else as his right-hand man, who actually does the day-to-day GM’ing.
Finley is a candidate for one of those roles.
Masai Ujiri is another. He wants both total control and an ownership interest. Think Mark would not have a problem with the equity piece. But probably not total control. Don’t think Masai is a realistic option here because Cuban.
A new president coming in is going to have to be willing to work with whatever continued involvement Cuban wants to have. Mark likes analytics guys, but the new prez doesn’t have to be one.
Various player agents might also be looked at. Cubes has relationships with some. Jeff Schwarz, for example.
Donnie is taking away a huge amount of institutional knowledge, so getting someone familiar with the organization would be a plus.
Possible new head coaches
The new president will probably have a large say in who the new coach is.
Luka won’t be involved in the selection process, but he will be kept apprised, and they will look for someone who fits with him. Might have veto power.
Mosley is an obvious candidate. If he doesn’t get the head coach job, he will almost certainly leave. Is very popular with the players. But he has been able to play the “good cop” role with respect to Rick, and probably can’t do that any more if he is HC.
Becky Hammon likely to be interviewed. There is a Serbian assistant coach at Memphis who might get a shot. Also a Slovenian guy who is a former head coach of the Suns. Terry Stotts might draw some interest, although more likely they will go with someone younger, who can relate well to young guys while also having enough gravitas to command respect. Dwayne Casey might be interested. Kidd would probably have an interest in coming back to Dallas. Barea would like to come back as an assistant. Other names will surface. Nick Nurse, maybe. Or the Pacers coach.
Might get a players’ coach as HC, and then bring in an assistant or two to do the X’s and O’s.
Many changes coming.
https://www.patreon.com/mavspod/posts
The Athletic article exposed a lot of things people have been hearing about for a while.
The Donnie-Rick decisions were not made in the last 48 hours. The article itself didn’t cause the shakeup. It may have been the last straw, but the problems have been ongoing.
Donnie and Rick
New GMs who inherit established structures usually keep things intact for a year or so, and then make a bunch of wholesale changes. Rick probably saw the handwriting on the wall wrt probable changes in a year, and so left now, with a lot of great openings out there. It would probably have been unpleasant for him staying here and being constantly on the hot seat for a season, after all his history with the Mavs and at this point in his life.
From the Mavs’ point of view, it might have made sense not to risk wasting a season with a make-good year giving Donnie/Rick a last chance. Teams like Phoenix and Atlanta have passed the Mavs up, and the team is feeling the pressure of an accelerated timeline.
Rick broke the news to Woj, rather than Stein, which indicates that he wanted to control the narrative, rather than filter it through the team.
Rick’s departure should not be taken as a sign that the team had lost confidence in Rick’s coaching ability. Mark wanted him to stay, subject to the new GM’s wishes.
This will have ramifications throughout the organization, including assistant coaches, video coordinators, scouts, etc.
Will be no shortage of opportunities for both Donnie and Rick.
New President/GM.
Mavs will be active on draft night, in case something happens where they get a chance to get someone. So would be good to get a new GM by then.
Probable that there will be two top management roles. President, and GM. The president is the overall strategist. Then you have someone else as his right-hand man, who actually does the day-to-day GM’ing.
Finley is a candidate for one of those roles.
Masai Ujiri is another. He wants both total control and an ownership interest. Think Mark would not have a problem with the equity piece. But probably not total control. Don’t think Masai is a realistic option here because Cuban.
A new president coming in is going to have to be willing to work with whatever continued involvement Cuban wants to have. Mark likes analytics guys, but the new prez doesn’t have to be one.
Various player agents might also be looked at. Cubes has relationships with some. Jeff Schwarz, for example.
Donnie is taking away a huge amount of institutional knowledge, so getting someone familiar with the organization would be a plus.
Possible new head coaches
The new president will probably have a large say in who the new coach is.
Luka won’t be involved in the selection process, but he will be kept apprised, and they will look for someone who fits with him. Might have veto power.
Mosley is an obvious candidate. If he doesn’t get the head coach job, he will almost certainly leave. Is very popular with the players. But he has been able to play the “good cop” role with respect to Rick, and probably can’t do that any more if he is HC.
Becky Hammon likely to be interviewed. There is a Serbian assistant coach at Memphis who might get a shot. Also a Slovenian guy who is a former head coach of the Suns. Terry Stotts might draw some interest, although more likely they will go with someone younger, who can relate well to young guys while also having enough gravitas to command respect. Dwayne Casey might be interested. Kidd would probably have an interest in coming back to Dallas. Barea would like to come back as an assistant. Other names will surface. Nick Nurse, maybe. Or the Pacers coach.
Might get a players’ coach as HC, and then bring in an assistant or two to do the X’s and O’s.
Many changes coming.
https://www.patreon.com/mavspod/posts