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

[ClutchDirk]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2944...-vacancies

[Kammrath]

I consider the article itself legit in a journalistic sense. I just question that Luka or his representatives were a significant source.

Thanks for your thoughts.

So intuitively you would say the article rings true for you and is an accurate portrayal of some of the dynamics at work behind the scenes in DAL?

[khaled1987]

If these comments were false, and the story wasn't true, then they wouldn't hold water at all. I don't want to speculate on how Cubes SHOULD react, but being hyper defensive within the hour and Voulgaris himself going to Mavs Mouthpiece Fish within the hour tells me that they're on damage control and are trying to fix the image. 

Players/Agents/Other executives aren't stupid. If this story was false then they'd be the first to know given that they are the ones that deal with the Mavs front office on a semi daily basis. 

I disagree right there.

False attacks/reports can do more damage than accurate ones, they plant doubts which is dangerous. 
Narrative can be way more important than facts for many people, as you can see in any political scene, and it matters.
Players has families who aren't as smart as agents/executives etc, who might look at those reports and whispers to their son/husband etc to not go there. 
Honestly, I think this was normal response by Cuban.

[mavsluvr]

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 little 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. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaYN5c8XzY

[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. 

[Kammrath]

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.

VERY interesting.

This makes me think there might be a battle within the power structure of the Mavs about HOW KP is used and what his role should be, if he should be traded, etc.

[ClutchDirk]

Can we end the KP Luka drama now...

McMahon who does not have Parsons feeding him insider info was trolling for clicks...

[MFFL]

I gotta back sefant up on this point.  I read Cato quite a bit and I have never gotten the sense he has any inside sources.  Marc Stein was a classic Mavs insider.  Reading a Cato article is like reading someone on this board.  Good analysis, defensible opinions, but I never hear him quoting someone within the circle unless it is straight from the press conference. 

I don't think it was a Cato fueled article

IMO Sam Amick was the driving force behind the article and Cato just filled in the gaps about the Mavs players/front office/etc because Amick doesn't really know the Mavs

None of the national NBA writers on the Athletic write about the Mavs unless the Mavs happen to play a high profile team that the writer already follows. It is kinda the way the NBA writers don't really know about the T-Wolves or the Thunder for example. The Mavs just aren't a high profile team

[Mavs2021]

Sure, the best thing you could hope for would be for the Mavs to hire some external guys who have his trust and get to make the decisions more freely than the current crew. 

Basically what he allegedly allowed this Bobguy to except with someone who isn’t just a numbers guy but more of a respected all around good ‚real’ GM.

---

Yeah I guess he handled this perfectly then and Nico Melli and James Johnson got us to the promised land with their quality veteran play.

Don´t forget Trey Burke. 900 completely wasted regular season minutes that could have gone to Green/Bey/Terry.

At this point I assume while all this power struggle was going on, Trey Burke just signed himself to this three year extension. Nice of him to not pay himself the full MLE.

[Kammrath]

Can we end the KP Luka drama now...

McMahon who does not have Parsons feeding him insider info was trolling for clicks...

Nah, that drama is real....but I could see the possibility that such drama is only the tip of the real issues and iceberg.

[mavsluvr]

Thanks for your thoughts.

So intuitively you would say the article rings true for you and is an accurate portrayal of some of the dynamics at work behind the scenes in DAL?

I don't have the first-hand knowledge to say with certainty that all the  items described are 100% accurate or not, and doubt that anyone does. But the material generally seems plausible to me. 

One exception is that I don't really buy that Bob "dictated" lineups and in-game adjustments to Rick. However, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Rick felt an organizational expectation that he should heed Bob's advice as a general matter, which may have amounted to much the same thing in practice.

[Kammrath]

I don't have the first-hand knowledge to say with certainty that all the  items described are 100% accurate or not, and doubt that anyone does. But the material generally seems plausible to me. 

One exception is that I don't really buy that Bob "dictated" lineups and in-game adjustments to Rick, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if Rick felt an organizational expectation that he should heed Bob's advice as a general matter, which may have amounted to much the same thing in practice.

Thank you good sir. Appreciate it.

[sterlingmallory]

Cuban can fix this whole thing by firing both Donnie and Haralabob. Easy peasy. Who wouldn't want to try to build a team around Luka Doncic? Cuban could have his pick of GMs, all he has to do is swallow his ego a little bit and let the new guy have complete control. But as long as he can't help himself but meddle in the team building then no GM worth his salt will ever stay here long. Watch him bury his head in the sand and double down instead.

[StepBackJay]

Can we end the KP Luka drama now...

McMahon who does not have Parsons feeding him insider info was trolling for clicks...

I do think is speaks to the fact that its overblown. Donnie, Cubes have said as much. I think its probably no so much that they don't get along, its just that they are two dudes that aren't friends and have probably very little off-court chemistry.

Even in games we see KP sitting by himself during timeouts, not really interacting with anybody. He will do some high fives and stuff like that on occasion but I also think its just part of his personality to not really emote a whole lot on the court. Luka is obviously the exact opposite who shows emotion in every single thing he does. 

They are like two college roommates who are paired randomly together but each do their own thing. Doesn't mean they hate each other. I do think at times they have had on-court chemistry it just hasn't been consistent. At any rate I feel like the narrative that's going to form is hey lets get KP more involved in the offense and look at KP, he's in the best shape of his life! He is looking so spry this offseason. That kind of stuff.

[StepBackJay]

Cuban can fix this whole thing by firing both Donnie and Haralabob. Easy peasy. Who wouldn't want to try to build a team around Luka Doncic? Cuban could have his pick of GMs, all he has to do is swallow his ego a little bit and let the new guy have complete control. But as long as he can't help himself but meddle in the team building then no GM worth his salt will ever stay here long. Watch him bury his head in the sand and double down instead.

There has to be a front office shakeup coming out of this. Seems like Bob will be the one to go. He is the outsider and it's not like his picks have been amazing. If analytics tells you to get Delon Wright, J Rich, and Josh Green, then I say F analytics. Sorry @"Kammrath".

[Hypermav]

FO shakeup in our "big" off season.  Nice to love a team that is so prepared.

Cuban is probably stubborn enough to keep Harlaboob.

[Kammrath]

If analytics tells you to get Delon Wright, J Rich, and Josh Green, then I say F analytics. Sorry @Kammrath.

Analytics only told him DWright and JGreen according to the article.

I think Delon is a legit NBA player that did NOT mesh with RC and his style. I think JG is a future starter in the league. 

Throwing Voulgaris under the bus is not the right way to analyze this. This is about mesh and leadership not about anyone's (or analytic's) singular incompetence.

[F Gump]

There has to be a front office shakeup coming out of this.

This may or may not happen. It won't solve anything, though. If someone gets fired, whoever it is, they are not the problem. So their firing won't fix the issues.

The issues are not new. It's the same thing that's been in place for years.

CUBAN is really the Mavs' general manager, the POBO, the draft guru, the trade-maker, the negotiator, and more. He thinks he can do it better and is smarter than the pros at the stuff. And that's how Cuban likes it and wants it. When he bought the Mavs, he bought himself the job of proving he's the world's best "basketball guy" and he won't let go of that.

The smartest boss is the one who isn't fearful to intentionally hire people smarter and more skilled than him, and get out of their way. If he already has one or more of those, get out of their way. But MC won't ever opt for that, because he thinks he is smarter. As a result, Cuban's ability to be the NBA's best as GM, to negotiate, draft, make trades, etc is the Mavs' ceiling.

[ThisIStheYear]

Wright is a pretty good player, and the Mavs were at the end of the line waiting on crumbs at that point. He’s far better than anyone acquired this off-season, for example.  And, let’s give Josh Green a chance.  He’s super young and has insane defensive anticipation and lateral quickness. That decision may yet work out. On the bright side, at least the Mavs are trying to incorporate data into their decision making processes.  It’s a shame that it has to come from the shadows instead of reflecting a top down, organizational directive. The Mavs should take this opening to completely overhaul the leadership team and implement an unapologetic, totally committed evidence based decision making process.

[omahen]

Another interesting thing - Cato is really agresive in getting his info out. He has been on basically every Mavs podcast yesterday discussing the article - 77minutes, Locked on, Moneyball,...