Mike Schmitz, a former DraftExpress scout and ESPN draft analyst who was most recently an assistant general manager with the Trail Blazers, was hired by the Mavericks on May 8 to be their new GM. He will be the top lieutenant in Dallas under new president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri.
As Grant Afseth of DallasHoopsJournal.com writes, Schmitz spoke to the media at the draft lottery on May 10, just two days after he accepted the job.
“It’s been chaotic in a beautiful way. It’s not lost on me what an amazing opportunity this is,” Schmitz said. “I’m 35 years old, and to be able to be a general manager for such a prestigious organization, working in unison with Masai, obviously (governor) Patrick Dumont, and the rest of the ownership group believing in me, it’s a really, really important time.”
Ujiri previously offered high praise for Schmitz, calling him an “incredible scout” and “incredible leader” who will bring a “whole package” of skills to the Mavs’ basketball operations department. Ujiri added that he’s known Schmitz for “many, many years,” which Schmitz confirmed.
“I’ve done a lot of scouting internationally, and when I first got into the scouting space and was out on the road, we were in the same gyms for years and years — whether that’s in Africa or Europe or in the States,” Schmitz said. “So I’m really thankful for that relationship and him bringing me on board.”
“… Obviously, we’ve had a long-standing relationship, and I think him being able to trust in me and me being able to lean on him in a variety of different areas — I think it’s going to work great,” Schmitz added.
Like many other executives around the league, Schmitz praised the depth of the 2026 draft class and is “very confident” in the Mavs’ ability to find a quality player with the ninth overall pick, per Afseth. Dallas also controls the 30th and 48th selections in June’s draft.
“We want someone who can bring a variety of different skills and bring kind of a mentality that we’re looking for,” Schmitz said. “But we’re really confident we can get a rotation-level player, and we’re going to do everything we can.”
According to Afseth, Schmitz credited his previous experience with helping him learn how to run a basketball operations department, and he hopes to bring a collaborative approach to Dallas. He also discussed Cooper Flagg and how the Rookie of the Year’s versatility will give the organization multiple ways to build out the roster around him.
This will always be the dude who reached on Yang Hansen. I hope he was right, I really do, but it remains to be seen what his actual scouting acumen is as a GM.
The story isn’t written yet on Hansen Yang; you couldn’t tell Nikola Jokic’s story, Giannis’ story, Dirk’s story, or SGA’s story, either from any of their first years in the league. Some careers take time to develop. If Yang is an all-star in 2030, just as Portland is hitting its stride w/their core of Deni, Clingan, Toumani, Shaedon, and Scoot, it’ll look genius.
Furthermore, we have no idea it was a reach; for all we know, a team could have been ready to take him the next pick if Portland didn’t. Competitors will never admit that.
The only one of those players who even remotely had a rookie year like Hansen’s was Dirk – every other player got regular rotation minutes from the get-go.
Yang played 300 minutes all year. I will agree that the story isn’t written yet, but the first chapter reads a lot more like Yi Jianlian than Yao Ming.
Jokic even in his first year was unusually impactive for a rookie, and as a sophomore his advanced stats were already off the charts. And rookie SGA averaged 29 minutes in a playoff series and was an important player.
Hansen is young, but he looked lost. As they say, it don’t look good, bruv.
And as for it being a reach, it’s a very good example why saying “they should have traded down and got their player at a lower spot and got some assets” is often a complete nonsense in reality.
To trade down, you need someone to trade with you. :) And be willing to give you assets. If that kind of deal isn’t there, you have to pick your guy with the pick you have.
Or else you’ll do what the Wizards did in 2022: picked Johnny Davis with the 10th pick even though they didn’t want him and had no plan for him.
Ooof – Johnny Davis – now that was one bad draft pick 😜
Was always impressed with the comprehensive analysis of prospects he provided on DraftExpress and it’s great to see him get this opportunity.
Yeah, and I hope he keeps Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley in the fold, so they can all work collectively without egos. Riccardi and Finley have been through hell and back with the Luka trade, so them staying on despite that bodes well for their faith in the team, and their love for the city.