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

[burekemde]

After reading this, I love the idea of going after Butler, if there's any chance Miami would give him up (or if he demanded a trade...).

All I see is open paths to penetrate when Luka runs the floor. He consistently draws the second defender, passes the ball. Another Mavs player has that crease to penetrate, but doesnt, and when they do, it doesnt turn out well. Sometimes they opt for the shot with that crease, and that is OK. But the penetration we could create from players other than Luka, would absolutely kill any team. Especially when the outside shots dont go in, then you need penetration. So yes, Butler would be a great fit. Chris Paul. Vucevic would destroy teams with those creases Luka creates. What we need is SKILLED experienced player knowing how to take easy advantage of that space Luka leaves. The worst thing you can add is an athletic player that does not know how to use that crease, or how to position himself to take advantage of that. We need mid range game, penetration, finish at the rim. Because those creases made by Luka, offer that opportunity as much as the 3 pointers.

All respect to DFS, he is one of the hearts of the team, not to mention Jrich etc, but I dont know how many times I have seen them with that crease Luka creates, essentially "a welcome free ticket to the paint to score", but they cant do it regularly and well enough. When going into paint they run in wrong paths with wrong timing. The only thing they know is to take that crease and get a shot of for 3 pointer, but to take advantage of the crease in terms of penetrating, especially when the 3 pointer is not going in, they dont know how to do it.

Number 1 priority IMO is to add smart bbIQ players that do know how to take advantage of those creases created by Luka. Take mid rangers, penetrate to rim and finish, or penetrate and make a pass, make the ball flow around and create further creases other places. Because, if we add those players, we first then will get multidimensional, and not uni dimensional like we are now with Luka. What will happen is that the other players will simply destroy teams on their own and the ball will flow much smarter and more fluid.

Its incredible how little we take advantage of how much space created by Luka. The only players that knows how to use that crease, and this is only sometimes, and not conistently is THJ and Brunson. And they are not great at it at all. Brunson suffers from lack of length penetrating in paint, although he can pass, while THJ also lacks some physicality and skills in this to really be a weapon in playoffs, and cant pass out of penetration, but can pull it off at times finishing at rim, he is better than given credit for in this. But players like Butler and Derozan would punish teams literally, they are FAR better with even much smaller creases, or even no creases at all.

---

It was rough watching what they did to Green/Bey/Terry. Carlisle never had an ounce of interest in developing them. Everything makes sense now. They probably weren’t the guys he wanted and he acted accordingly.

I hope we waive or trade all three of them instead of further destroying the start of their careers. Just a huge waste of everybody’s time as always the Mavs‘ limited asset base but that’s another one of those typical Mavs stories that just reek of incompetence.

At this point we’d be better off with a fresh start. Coaching, GM, everything. The guys we have don’t have it anymore.

It was so obvious S. Bey and Bane were a ton better and polished players, fitting a Luka style offense. It was obvious from the moon.

[StepBackJay]

It was rough watching what they did to Green/Bey/Terry. Carlisle never had an ounce of interest in developing them. Everything makes sense now. They probably weren’t the guys he wanted and he acted accordingly.

Kirk on MMB is always bringing this up. Terry had his own deal. I actually don't think Terry was a stretch pick or anything at the time. The head-scratcher was of course Green over Bey, the consensus 3D guy Mavs really needed. In the same draft they try to trade for RoCo but don't want Bey? It didn't make any sense.

And yet here we are. I think the smart money is that this Voulgaris will be hitting the road soon. Remember Mavs had a GM a few years ago that was around for 5 minutes and then discarded? Rick, Donnie & Cubes aren't going anywhere.

[JamesConway]

The guy who drafted Dirk, the guy who wanted to draft Giannis, the guy who made sure we drafted Luka vs. The guy who wanted Delon Wright and made sure we drafted Josh Green/Tyrell Terry over Saddiq Bey/Desmond Bane.

Yeah.... I hope for Cuban's sake he doesn't try to outsmart himself here.

Donnie should not get an ounce of praise for the Giannis thing. If he really was as convinced he easily could have found a way to open up the caproom without trading down. But he didn’t so how can this be brought up in his favor. I don’t buy this story at all. Just another way to make Donnie look better than he is. 

Even the Cato article specifically brought up the Reddick, KP and JRiich trades as moves Donnie pushed for. 

„Nelson continued to spearhead major moves, including trades for Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr. in 2019, Josh Richardson in 2020 and J.J. Redick in 2021.“



How that guy still has his job is beyond me.

---

The guy who drafted Dirk, the guy who wanted to draft Giannis, the guy who made sure we drafted Luka vs. The guy who wanted Delon Wright and made sure we drafted Josh Green/Tyrell Terry over Saddiq Bey/Desmond Bane.

Yeah.... I hope for Cuban's sake he doesn't try to outsmart himself here.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not defending the Valguris guy. If he’s done some of the things that are stated in the article it’s a no brainer to show him the door.

[StepBackJay]

The Cubes arrogance of always thinking he's the smartest guy in the room (he's a billionaire remember?) reminds me of the famous Orwell quote: “Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them.”

That would make a room full of scouts and basketball people with 100's of years of experience somehow wind up with a worse draft pick than me on my couch.

[burekemde]

This will end up as one of the most discussed threads.

[VintagePejav2]

Also surprised this bit isn't getting much attention:

All five Texas Legends fans getting excited that they might finally be good for the first time ever, if Donnie has to donate the team to charity.  

Which podcast?

Mavs2012. It is good to see you again!

[mavsluvr]

highlights from Cato's follow up pod --

The article was about the power structure of the organization, and the belief that it will be changed this summer. 

Cuban and the organization have not been nearly as complacent about the Triangle of Trust structure as we may have been led to believe. Haralabob was brought in because Cubes thought he needed to shake things up. However, the approach used in bringing him in involved a lot of mistakes. 

The power structure remained nebulous. Executives from other teams were to the point where they didn't know who they were supposed to be talking to at the organization -- who actually had decision-making authority. The lack of clarity led to conflicts within the organization. 

The locker room interaction with "Bob" was difficult. Bob did not communicate his decisions well, and the players didn't like dealing with him. 

The article tried to convey that every decision in the organization is now being looked at through the lens of Luka. Not in the sense that they are getting his specific input on everything, but that knowing he will have the ability to uproot himself in a few years is already shaping decisions that are made today. And the roles of various personnel, including the power structure, are being re-evaluated through that lens. 

The article's reference to the expectation that Rick's role was going to be reviewed was meant to show that Rick may have felt it was best to go along to get along, as far as Bob was concerned. 

Tim made clear that the article was specifically NOT saying that Luka is throwing his weight around trying to get particular people fired, or otherwise trying to politic his contract into more power. He is not, according to Tim. But the fact that he will be in a position to do that in the future is something management is very aware of now. 

The article is being published now because the information being circulated around the organization 
is that the situation is at a tipping point, and changes are expected to occur this summer. 

Other changes will be made as well, for example, the roster, but those were not intended to be addressed by the article. 

https://theathletic.com/podcast/154-77-m...pisode=102

[hakeemfaan]

Watching Cuban over the years has confirmed my suspicions that he just got extremely lucky with broadcast.com.

---

At the same time, I don’t have the whole article or context of the souring of relationships. However it does not bother anyone that Luka is dropping f bombs at a front office guy?

[Tyler]

highlights from Cato's follow up pod --

Thanks for the quick recap. I really appreciate summary posts like this for those who can't listen to the whole podcast.

[hakeemfaan]

Donnie should not get an ounce of praise for the Giannis thing. If he really was as convinced he easily could have found a way to open up the caproom without trading down. But he didn’t so how can this be brought up in his favor. I don’t buy this story at all. Just another way to make Donnie look better than he is. 

This!!!!. 

Cuban did not care for Giannis or Shane Larkin. What he wanted was the ability to give Dwight the max. The difference between the 13th and 17th pick is not much given that capable GMs are able to move even massive contracts if needed. I have always felt that Donnie has got a free pass on the Giannis story. 

If Cuban really thought like an owner he would have fired Donnie just on that basis. However he wants a puppet. So he puts out that story as if that reflects positively on Donnie when IMO it just makes it worse.

[VintagePejav2]

Watching Cuban over the years has confirmed my suspicions that he just got extremely lucky with broadcast.com.

---

At the same time, I don’t have the whole article or context of the souring of relationships. However it does not bother anyone that Luka is dropping f bombs at a front office guy?

He is indeed Russ Hanneman from Silicon Valley. Radio-over-the-Internet bro.

[omahen]

highlights from Cato's follow up pod --

The article was about the power structure of the organization, and the belief that it will be changed this summer. 

Cuban and the organization have not been nearly as complacent about the Triangle of Trust structure as we may have been led to believe. Haralabob was brought in because Cubes thought he needed to shake things up. However, the approach used in bringing him in involved a lot of mistakes. 

The power structure remained nebulous. Executives from other teams were to the point where they didn't know who they were supposed to be talking to at the organization -- who actually had decision-making authority. The lack of clarity led to conflicts within the organization. 

The locker room interaction with "Bob" was difficult. Bob did not communicate his decisions well, and the players didn't like dealing with him. 

The article tried to convey that every decision in the organization is now being looked at through the lens of Luka. Not in the sense that they are getting his specific input on everything, but that knowing he will have the ability to uproot himself in a few years is already shaping decisions that are made today. And the roles of various personnel, including the power structure, are being re-evaluated through that lens. 

The article's reference to the expectation that Rick's role was going to be reviewed was meant to show that Rick may have felt it was best to go along to get along, as far as Bob was concerned. 

Tim made clear that the article was specifically NOT saying that Luka is throwing his weight around trying to get particular people fired, or otherwise trying to politic his contract into more power. He is not, according to Tim. But the fact that he will be in a position to do that in the future is something management is very aware of now. 

The article is being published now because the information being circulated around the organization 
is that the situation is at a tipping point, and changes are expected to occur this summer. 

Other changes will be made as well, for example, the roster, but those were not intended to be addressed by the article. 

I was really surprised this podcast was basically pointing out mostly Donnie failures and basically announcing changes in the triangle of trust. I guess a certain free agent GM could see as a great challenge to win titles with Luka. He can bring his African brother Pascal with him

[ClutchDirk]

https://media.giphy.com/media/cOWonfe2TV.../giphy.gif

[ClutchDirk]

https://twitter.com/ringer/status/1404550583407714305

[JamesConway]

I was really surprised this podcast was basically pointing out mostly Donnie failures and basically announcing changes in the triangle of trust. I guess a certain free agent GM could see as a great challenge to win titles with Luka. He can bring his African brother Pascal with him

Dude. Don’t start me on this. Ujiri.....that would be as big a get as drafting Luka. That’s a killer of a GM and someone who would not take any crap from Cuban or Rick.

Getting that guy here would be a million times more important than any player acquisition we can pull off this summer.

[omahen]

Dude. Don’t start me on this. Ujiri.....that would be as big a get as drafting Luka. That’s a killer of a GM and someone who would not take any crap from Cuban or Rick.

Getting that guy here would be a million times more important than any player acquisition we can pull off this summer.

I am listening to previous 77 minutes podcast and they were singling Donnie out. Like Luka did best he could, Carlisle did best he could with limited rosters. So who is left to point finger at? Perhaps a guy saying Luka should pass more

[ClutchDirk]

https://twitter.com/fishsports/status/14...0649591813

[VintagePejav2]

Dude. Don’t start me on this. Ujiri.....that would be as big a get as drafting Luka. That’s a killer of a GM and someone who would not take any crap from Cuban or Rick.

Getting that guy here would be a million times more important than any player acquisition we can pull off this summer.

JC spitting fire in this here thread. Love it.

[Benskix2]

Everyone here is mad at Harambe Vagaraus because the article says Luka hates him, but the real story is that Cuban has lost enough confidence in Carlisle that he's empowered a professional gambler to made decisions for him and it's overt enough that Luka knows who the guy is and what he's doing. 

Even if you think this guy is responsible for every decision you didn't like in the last few years it's important to remember that this franchise was making some pretty shitty decisions before he had any responsibility, and that there's little chance of the next guy Cuban puts in charge of "helping" Rick faring any better.  That Rick is accepting of this tells me that either he trusts the guy, or he doesn't want to get fired because he doesn't believe he can get another head coaching job.  To me that's the important part of this story, that Cuban doesn't think Rick is good enough on his own, and that Rick is ok with that.  Maybe that's a good thing and Rick is adaptable, or maybe Rick doesn't know what the hell he is doing anymore and is just hanging on for dear life.

[jesusshuttlesworth82]

It was rough watching what they did to Green/Bey/Terry. Carlisle never had an ounce of interest in developing them. Everything makes sense now. They probably weren’t the guys he wanted and he acted accordingly.

I hope we waive or trade all three of them instead of further destroying the start of their careers. Just a huge waste of everybody’s time as always the Mavs‘ limited asset base but that’s another one of those typical Mavs stories that just reek of incompetence.

At this point we’d be better off with a fresh start. Coaching, GM, everything. The guys we have don’t have it anymore.

I’m sorry but I’m tired of this bullshit. You have apparently never watched any of those guys play college basketball. On draft night, I said they are 3-4 year projects. Josh Green doesn’t have basic skills like how to dribble a basketball. 

I’ll admit to being a Carlisle homer but I’ve had enough of this shit for 15 years. Every time we draft some complete scrub like Shan Foster or Mo Agee or Josh Green…it’s Carlisles fault they didn’t get “developed.”  I was one of the first on the DSJ sucks at basketball wagon. Apparently he was Carlisle’s fault too. 

I’m gonna agree with that Stephen A clip from last week. Carlisle needs to go to a team that’s actually good and ready to win. He’s wasting his coaching career here whether it’s Donnie or Voukgaris or Cuban. He would have a huge contract within 48 hours if the Mavs let him go. More likely we can trade him for a 1st round pick. There’s not a single non Mavs fan complainer that doesn’t think Carlisle is a top 10 NBA coach.