F Gump Wrote: [url=https://www.mavsboard.com/showthread.php?pid=92069#pid92069][/url]
My take comes from what Nico himself is saying, not from trying to intuit what he might can do. He says he brings no particular skill in any of the areas we have talked about; he mentioned things like basketball talent evaluation, development, negotiating, roster planning, etc as not being skills he has - and that his past was about building relationships essentially, and nothing that really has to do with being an NBA GM.
Killer Left wrote:
I wasn't aware of any public speaking/interviews Harrison has done since getting this job. If he has said those things above, that IS interesting. Did I miss something important? Can you point me in the right direction?
I am not aware of Nico's having given a public statement. I have seen/heard various articles and podcasts detailing his various strengths, and areas where he needs to learn. These were all in the context of highly favorable outlooks on the hire, and were reportorial pieces. I believe these came from Cato, Dameris, and Sefko, among others.
Some sources (which I don't think have any particular ties to the Mavs) say that Nico has experience in evaluating athletes for shoe contracts. The Mavs guys and some other sources downplayed that to an extent, saying that Nico does not see himself as a talent evaluator in the sense that a GM needs to be.
These sources were mostly saying that Nico has a lot of transferable skills, but does not pretend to have done everything a GM does. They were saying that the places he still needs to grow are areas where he can lean on other front office personnel to help him get up to speed. For example, he has never engaged in drafting before, but Fin can run the draft. He is not a cap expert, but Keith Grant can handle that.
They say that Nico has never constructed a roster, or developed a basketball program in the on-court sense, but Fin, the analytics guys, the coaching staff, and Cuban (!) have worked on this kind of thing for years. Also said that it is not clear that talent evaluation and roster construction is going to be a big part of Nico's duties at all. He has extensive experience in contract negotiating, and in building and maintaining relationships with players, and he enjoys a high degree of respect around the league. He appears to be in a position to add some elements to the job that the previous front office was short on, and to have support in the areas he hasn't done before. His primary responsibilities, at least at first, are likely to be matched to his existing skills.
All that is just in response to your question. He's not a Masai Ujiri, but that of course doesn't mean that he is "clueless" or a "babe in the woods," just that he will be new to some aspects of the job. I have no doubt that he is a smart, quick, personable, high-character guy who is capable of either picking up the additional skills over time, or making good decisions on whom to rely. He may well be able to develop a vision and philosophy for the basketball side of the organization, especially after he has had some time to settle in and learn the ropes. But, since he's never done it before, of course there is no way to know for sure, and it might take a little time.
I am sure you already knew most of this, but I offer it in part to further the discussion.