NEWS: Donnie out | Nico Harrison (Nike) as Pres/GM | Fin as VP | Dirk as Advisor

[mvossman]

So far all we can say is that Cuban really hates making changes at the HC and GM position, but the few times he has  hey went out and got highly respected people to fill the job.    The only hires have been Rick Carlisle, who he hired outside the organization and was regarded as the best coach on the market, and Avery who revisionist history has rewritten as this Mavs/Cuban crony but actually was highly regarded at the time as an up and coming coach.    He was groomed by Pop and personally selected by Nellie to be his successor, to the point where Avery was acting as the de facto head coach while Nellie was out for extended time with a shoulder surgery.    

So if Cuban goes out, yet again, and hires outside the organization and brings in respected NBA guy to be his new GM, I wonder if people will stop and readjust their priors?  I'm guessing probably not.   People are just too addicted to their narratives about Cuban.

The issue with Cuban is not about the coach, its been about running the team.  Since the championship, he has been very vocal about "reading the CBA" and plan powder starting with the decision to break up the championship team.  There has been little question that this approach, including going after "stars" is Cuban driven.  Then we know that Nelson thought Giannis was the best player in the draft, but Cuban got cute for plan powder and traded down and we ended up with Larkin instead.  He had been heavily (overly) involved in the GM operations for a long time and this is why he is sometimes compared to Jerry and generates these "priors".

Given his (seemingly) significant involvement in GM affairs, it seems unlikely that he will be willing to give that up.  If he hires within the org (like Finely) then the perception is going to be that he will continue to be overly involved in the GM process.  If he brings in a strong outside hire (like Masai) then it will be a clear indication that he realizes he needs to step back.  I am hopeful that he pulls that trigger, but skeptical that he will.