Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont has begun gathering information on possible candidates to run the team’s front office on a permanent basis following last month’s ouster of Nico Harrison, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).
However, according to Stein, Dumont is in no rush to complete that search process and is content with the idea of taking a committee approach for the rest of the regular season. While Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi are the team’s co-interim general managers, minority owner Mark Cuban, head coach Jason Kidd, and Dumont himself are also providing input on front office decisions, with Dumont having become “far more involved” since Harrison’s dismissal, per Stein.
One major decision facing that committee prior to this season’s trade deadline is whether or not to trade star big man Anthony Davis. Stein hears from sources that a Davis deal isn’t a foregone conclusion by any means. As Stein explains, the Mavs recognize that last season’s Luka Doncic blockbuster can’t be undone, so the team doesn’t want to just accept the best offer on the table for Davis. Accepting a subpar return for him would risk simply “compounding mistakes already made,” Stein writes.
Here’s more from Stein’s latest NBA round-up:
- The Bulls don’t appear to have any real interest in Davis, but they remain a team to watch for Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, Stein says. As Stein notes, Chicago has conveyed some interest in Kuminga in the past, bringing him in past discussions involving Alex Caruso and other players.
- The Hornets were among the teams with interest in Chris Paul during the offseason, but the veteran point guard wasn’t interested in playing so far away from his family in Los Angeles. According to Stein, Charlotte is no longer expected to pursue Paul at this time, but CP3 is believed to be more open-minded about destinations further removed from L.A. Paul, who remains under contract with the Clippers for now, will become trade-eligible on Monday.
- Rookies Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears are now viewed as the most untouchable players on the Pelicans‘ roster, Stein writes. That designation used to belong to Trey Murphy III and Herbert Jones — while New Orleans may be more open to listen on those players now, the team’s asking price for Murphy and Jones is still “extremely” high, according to Stein, who notes that the Pelicans are essentially discouraging inquiries based on the return they’re seeking.
Have a good Friday, everyone.
Warriors basketball is on tonight: my Friday is good no matter what!
Hope yours is too!
So the Warriors REALLY wanted Caruso huh?
“The Bulls want Kuminga, and the Warriors wanted Caruso for him. The Bulls no longer have Caruso, but still want Kuminga.” Ok can yall not see the problem here? Hilarious.
Would have been a good trade for the warriors. Kuminga is going to be a 3 team trade so Chicago is in the mix.
You are right, the Giannis trade is going to have like 12 teams involved lol
Caruso is who Kerr thinks Podz is. Podz would be better off to literally mimic Caruso’s game.
Still too early to think where Kuminga ends up because with so many injuries things can change a lot in 1 month.
does Kuminga for Vucevic work?
GSW can do way better + Vuc is kinda bad.
Don’t think so but wild deals do you see for JK? Kuminga has had mucho opportunities in GS and it hasn’t worked. He’s going to be a FA next summer. No one is going to give up much for him… a team like the Bulls or Kings need to change direction and try to catch lightning in a bottle.. that’s the kind of deal they’ll get.
Kuminga has a team option for next year. they can do better than a old center that doesn’t move well.
Nope, you are wrong, Kuminga has had almost no opportunities under Kerr, who benched him for 2way scrubs like Lamb. Kuminga’s development has been massively stunted due to Kerr’s outright refusal to develop draft picks, he only develops 2way players for some reason.
as long as Bulls are sending over a FRP with it would it make sense
LMAO arc, please stop nobody is sending a FRP for a guy who can’t shoot or rebound. Stop making guys act like they are ferrari’s when they are nothing but mazda miata’s.
just like nobody is sending anything good for Vuc. A old center that doesn’t move well. He is a back up center.
I never expected anything for Vu…lol i know they’ll resign him probably lmao
Stop acting like the Bulls have anything worthwhile the Warriors would want for Kuminga?
we don’t, plus atleast im not here pretending that he solves our issues. I’m sure other Bulls fans agree that JK doesn’t move the needle for us.
For the bulls there is no need for JK. Buzelis much of the same type of athletic body that needs to learn to play.
Exactly. Now, lets move onto why the Kings and Suns also have very little nothing to offer for Kuminga.
If Draymond is staying, GSW should look into trading Jimmy to the Suns, his preferred destination for Booker or even to the Lakers for Lebron. I love Butler’s season so far though, he’s flying under a lot of people’s radars. Still is superelite at the highest level. My #1 outcome off this trade deadline is GSW restructuring Dray and Kuminga out of the team and ushering in the Giannis-Jimmy-Steph or Zubac-Jimmy-Steph era, aka “the big 3 of ethical hoopers who saved us all from grifterball”
its not that they have nothing to offer but very little to offer besides their better players which they do not want to trade. Very little wiggle room on the cap makes it much harder for any team to trade with. Warriors can’t bring back payroll unless more teams are added to a trade offer.
The Bulls have a ton of expiring contracts. But, the Dubs are all-in on this szn and will try to leverage Kuminga into getting more size. Sabonis is the obvious perfect fit but I highly doubt they can pull that off. But with the Kings, you never know.
Buzelis needs more consistency and needs to be a better defender when he’s on and island. Problem is the HC doesn’t play him after one bad breakdown on defense and benches him for rest of the 2nd half lmao
“Problem is the HC doesn’t play him after one bad breakdown on defense and benches him for rest of the 2nd half lmao”
Hmm sounds exactly what Kerr has done to Kuminga every year for the last 4 years!!
Funny Raz you just described Kuminga just add on TO and you have Kuminga.
Correct. That’s why I haven’t been too high on Buzelis this year, Donovan isn’t the right guy for him…I feel like he’s already tuning him out.
Except he’s had month-long stretches multiple times earlier in his career where he shot over 50%/40% when Kerr played him more minutes, and he’s actually a good rebounder as his leading the players Kerr has given starting minutes to in rpg proves (6.3 rpg, 8.8 reb per 36).
^ another great example of Kerr incompetence. Kuminga’s rebounding. He has done everything he can to stunt his development with regards to rebounding.
I’m starting to think playing with AD is looking good for Cooper’s development. It’s good to have a high level vet who’s won in the league and knows what it takes. Very few #1 draft picks are lucky enough to end up in that kind of situation. Mavs should be careful about what pulling a tank job does for Flagg’s trajectory long term
I think the mindset isn’t a long-term tanking like the jazz. With Kyrie Irving coming back next season they should be contenders again pretty quick?
I like your point about Cooper Flagg learning from Anthony Davis, who is a very skilled vet who has been around the league quite a while.
Mavs are now 5-2 since AD came back from his latest injury (and since Kidd stopped using Flagg at PG after signing Nembhard). Now at 10-16, they could easily end up as a playoff team by the end of the season.
I think they’d be stupid to trade AD, despite the talking heads desperately wanting that to happen.
Media is making up the story Mavs want to trade him. Why would they trade him on low value? They need him to win to make owners look smart.
How is AD only 32? Seems like he is 38
Carrying Lebron all those years wears on a man