Patrick Dumont Discusses State Of Mavericks
Patrick Dumont has experienced the extreme highs and lows of NBA ownership in his 27 months as governor of the Mavericks, from a trip to the NBA Finals to the drama surrounding former president Nico Harrison after his controversial decision to trade Luka Doncic.
As Brad Townsend writes for the Dallas Morning News in an exclusive sit-down with the team owner, Dumont recognizes that until he puts together a competitive, high-level team again, everything he does will be looked at through the lens of the Doncic trade.
“I believe in our accountability,” Dumont said. “We have to work hard to make things right.”
Lucking into budding star Cooper Flagg in last year’s draft lottery helps, but as Dallas wraps up its worst season since 2017/18, the real work is only just beginning. That process will start with the search for a new president of basketball operations.
“Monday morning, we’re going to get active, and we’re going to talk to a lot of people,” Dumont says. “And we’re going to do our best to make sure that we find the best possible candidate to lead our basketball organization… Our goal is to have someone on board by the middle of May.”
It has previously been rumored that Dumont wants to go big-game hunting in his search, with names like Brad Stevens and Sam Presti coming up, but as heads of successful teams, those two seem unlikely to be attainable.
“We’ll do the work,” he said. “We’ll figure out who’s a great leader. Who can build a great culture. Who has a track record. Who knows how to work with young players and develop them, which is crucial, because if you look at our team right now, we’re going to have a pool of great young talent, led by Cooper Flagg.”
Dumont also spoke about former majority owner Mark Cuban, who made news recently when he expressed regret for selling the team to the new owners, as well as when he addressed rumors of his involvement with an investor group trying to buy the team away from the Adelson-Dumont family.
“Mark is really passionate about the Mavericks, and I think that’s great,” Dumont said. “I think he’s really, really frustrated about the year that the team has had. And I understand that frustration. I consider Mark a friend. And look, I always appreciate his thoughts… But one thing I do want to say, in terms of ownership, I think we’ve been really clear: We’re not moving the team to another city. The team is not for sale. We’re going to continue to invest in this franchise. We’re going to build a new home for the team, and hopefully in the long term we’ll be able to celebrate that success for many years.”
Regarding that last point, one issue hanging over Dumont is the decision on where to locate the new arena. He and the team are weighing several locations, including the site that is currently Dallas’ City Hall. The Mavs governor says he envisions it as something beyond just a simple arena, as well as a place that can help give back to the city.
“I think it’s great for the city of Dallas to have a sports and entertainment center where there’s activations, not only when we have our home games, but all throughout the year,” Dumont says. “And I also think it creates a better experience for our fans to be able to have things to do before and after the game, where they can meet family and friends.”
He declined to specify whether most of the money to build such a complex would come from the team or the city, but he noted that some level of private funding would be involved in the project.
The Players Who Could Be Financially Impacted By The 65-Game Rule
Earning a spot on an All-NBA team is the simplest way for a player to become eligible for a Designated Veteran or Rose Rule contract, allowing them to earn a higher maximum salary than they'd typically qualify for (35% instead of 30% for veterans, or 30% instead of 25% for players coming off rookie contracts). But that doesn't mean that there are financial benefits for every player who receives All-NBA recognition.
In order to become "super-max" eligible, a player must meet a set of specific criteria related not just to his on-court achievements but to his total NBA years of service, his contract situation, and how he joined his current team.
For instance, Luka Doncic would have been super-max eligible last summer as a member of the Mavericks, but the trade that sent him to the Lakers took that option off the table, since a player who changes teams via trade during his second contract isn't permitted to sign a Designated Veteran deal. With a super-max deal no longer in play, Doncic signed a standard max-salary extension (starting at 30% of the cap) with his new team last summer.
So, while Doncic's bid to be granted an "extraordinary circumstances" exception to circumvent the 65-game rule and gain All-NBA (and MVP) eligibility this spring could have a real impact on his career résumé, there are no financial implications hinging on that ruling.
For other players who narrowly met the 65-game criteria or will fall just short of it, there are more significant financial consequences to take into account. In the space below, we're taking a closer look at the All-NBA caliber players whose future earnings figure to be impacted the most by whether or not they got to 65 games this season.
And-Ones: Raynaud, C. Jones, Bazley, Montero
Kings center Maxime Raynaud is expected to join Team France this summer ahead of the 2027 World Cup qualifiers, according to Maxime Aubin of L’Equipe (Twitter link). The 2025 second-round pick could be an All-Rookie selection, having averaged 12.3 points and 7.5 rebounds through 73 games, including 55 starts (26.4 minutes per contest).
“I’ve seen (French national team GM) Boris (Diaw) several times during the season,” Raynaud told Aubin (hat tip to Eurohoops). “The roster hasn’t been announced yet, so I don’t know anything for sure, but it seems like they are considering me for the FIBA windows. I would be very happy to take part. Representing the French national team is a unique opportunity.”
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Former NBA guard Carlik Jones has signed an extension with Partizan Belgrade, the Serbian team announced (Twitter video link). Jones’ new contract runs through 2027/28, per Mozzart Sport. According to BasketNews, the 28-year-old missed the first few months of 2025/26 due to a fractured foot, but he has excelled since he returned to the court, averaging 15.6 PPG, 4.5 APG and 2.9 RPG in 14 EuroLeague games.
- Ex-NBA big man Darius Bazley has been waived by the Ningbo Rockets a little over a month after signing with the Chinese club, relays Bryan Kalbrosky of For The Win (subscriber link). The 25-year-old forward/center was upset about an inbound play that occurred in Wednesday’s game against the Shanghai Sharks (YouTube link). Bazley’s pass, which was supposed to go to teammate Zavier Simpson, was stolen by an opponent, who quickly converted a three-pointer. Bazley argued with Simpson about the play and then intentional threw the subsequent inbound pass to the referee, who was standing out of bounds. Bazley was pulled from the game and was reportedly spotted pushing a teammate, who was attempting to calm him down. The former first-round pick was released after the game.
- Valencia Basket guard Jean Montero has reportedly received contract offers worth $4MM+ from multiple college programs, according to Shot Vetakis and outlets in the Dominican Republic (hat tip to Dario Skerlectic of Sportando). Montero was one of the top undrafted players in 2022. He was expected to join the Knicks on an Exhibit 10 contract that summer, but the deal reportedly fell through because he had a significant buyout clause at the time with Spain’s Gran Carania.
Draft Notes: Boozer, Momcilovic, Bonke, Tobiason, More
In an interview with Mark Medina of EssentiallySports, Duke forward Cameron Boozer made his case for being selected No. 1 overall in the 2026 NBA draft.
“There are a lot of great candidates, for sure,” Boozer told EssentiallySports. “… But what I think separates me is my competitiveness and my winning. It’s my willingness to do whatever it takes to win.”
Still, Boozer, who is widely projected to be a top-four pick, said he’s not concerned about where he’s selected.
“It doesn’t matter to me at all. That’s just the beginning,” Boozer said. “Whether you’re one, two or 30 or 35, that’s just the beginning. For me, it’s more about where I am in 10 to 15 years than where I am on the first night.”
Boozer also talked to Medina about drawing inspiration from current NBA players, listing Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Paolo Banchero and LaMelo Ball as few of the players he enjoys watching.
Here are a few more notes ahead of the 2026 draft:
- Iowa State junior Milan Momcilovic officially confirmed (via Twitter) Sunday that he’s declaring for the draft, as previously reported. While the 6’8″ forward’s goal is to stay in the draft and hear his name called in June, he’s maintaining the option of withdrawing from the draft and is also entering the transfer portal. Momcilovic, who led the NCAA in three-point percentage (48.7% on 7.5 attempts per game) this season, was ranked No. 43 on ESPN’s latest big board. Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 hears most NBA executives have Momcilovic in the 20-to-40 range on their boards (Twitter link).
- Charlotte big man Anton Bonke is testing the draft waters, agent Scott Nichols tells Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress (Twitter link). A 7’2″ center from Vanuatu, Bonke averaged 10.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 34 games (25.6 minutes) as a junior for the 49ers. Bonke is also in the transfer portal.
- Temple sophomore Aiden Tobiason is entering the transfer portal and testing the draft waters, agent Ken Jackson tells Jacob Myers (Twitter link). Utah junior Terrence Brown is another draft early entrant who’s entering the transfer portal, he announced on social media (Twitter link). Dominican-Iranian wing Mohammad Amini is also testing the draft waters, per agent Aydin Dianat (LinkedIn link). Amini has spent the past two seasons with Nancy Basket in France’s top domestic basketball league (hat tip to Chepkevich at RookieScale.com). Brown and Amini both tested the draft waters last summer prior to withdrawing.
Lakers Convert Nick Smith Jr. To Two-Year Standard Deal
1:05 pm: Smith’s promotion is now official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
The Lakers will have a team option on Smith for next season and his 2026/27 salary is non-guaranteed, confirms Khobi Price of The California Post (Twitter link).
10:49 am: The Lakers are converting Nick Smith Jr.‘s two-way contract into a two-year standard deal, agent Lucas Newton tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Smith signed a two-way deal with the Lakers in late September, a few days after he was waived by the Hornets, who selected him 27th overall in the 2023 draft. Charlotte was facing a roster crunch at the time and Smith hadn’t taken meaningful steps forward in his first two NBA seasons.
Smith, who turns 22 years old next week, has averaged 6.0 points and 1.0 assist in 12.3 minutes per contest through 29 games in 2025/26. His shooting slash line is .433/.400/.733.
In addition to his NBA experience with the Lakers this season, Smith also played 18 G League games (29.2 MPG) with the team’s affiliate in South Bay, averaging 19.7 PPG, 5.0 APG and 3.6 RPG on .498/.370/.683 shooting splits.
Promoting Smith will make him eligible for the playoffs. The Lakers will have home court advantage in the first round, but their final seed — they can finish either third or fourth — will depend on the outcome of Sunday’s games.
Los Angeles created an opening on its standard roster on Friday, when the team waived Kobe Bufkin, another 2023 first-round pick. Smith will fill that 15th and final standard roster spot.
Smith’s salary for 2026/27 is unlikely to be guaranteed, though that hasn’t been confirmed. It also wouldn’t be surprising if his new contract features a team option for next season.
Ten Postseason Seeds Up For Grabs On Final Day Of Regular Season
While we’ve known which 20 NBA teams will be competing in the 2025/26 postseason for some time, 10 seeds are still in flux entering April 12, the final day of the 2025/26 regular season. Most importantly, three Eastern Conference teams are still vying for the final guaranteed playoff spot ahead of Sunday’s slate of games, which will see all 30 teams take the floor.
Here are the current playoff and play-in standings in both conferences, as well as where each team could finish, per the league (Twitter links).
Eastern Conference:
- Detroit Pistons (59-22)
- Boston Celtics (55-26)
- New York Knicks (53-28)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (51-30)
- Atlanta Hawks (46-35) — fifth or sixth
- Toronto Raptors (45-36) — fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth
- Orlando Magic (45-36) — sixth, seventh or eighth
- Philadelphia 76ers (44-37) — sixth, seventh or eighth
- Charlotte Hornets (43-38) — ninth or 10th
- Miami Heat (42-39) — ninth or 10th
Western Conference:
- Oklahoma City Thunder (64-17)
- San Antonio Spurs (62-19)
- Denver Nuggets (53-28) — third or fourth
- Los Angeles Lakers (52-29) — third or fourth
- Houston Rockets (51-30)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (48-33)
- Phoenix Suns (44-37)
- Portland Trail Blazers (41-40) — eighth or ninth
- Los Angeles Clippers (41-40) — eighth or ninth
- Golden State Warriors (37-44)
Notes: Teams in bold are locked in to their current seeds. A top-six seed ensures a guaranteed playoff spot, while the Nos. 7-10 teams will compete in the play-in tournament to determine the seventh and eighth seeds in each conference.
The most critical matchup Sunday is Brooklyn at Toronto. If the Raptors win, they can finish no worse than sixth place, securing the final guaranteed playoff berth.
The Hawks have ruled out most of their top players ahead of Sunday’s game at the Heat after securing a guaranteed playoff spot on Friday, tweets Brad Rowland of Locked on Hawks. That matters for Miami, because if they beat Atlanta and the Hornets lose at New York, the Heat would move ahead of Charlotte due to a head-to-head tiebreaker. That said, the Knicks will be playing without four of their five starters tonight, and if the Hornets win, they stay at No. 9.
It would be shocking if the Raptors don’t win Sunday, since the tanking Nets have already ruled out nine players (a 10th is doubtful) and have an incentive to lose the game. We’ll get more into that shortly.
Still, if the Raptors do lose Sunday’s game, it opens the door for the Magic or Sixers to move up to No. 6. A Raptors loss combined with a Magic win at Boston — the Celtics are likely to be without their top-seven rotation members — would see Orlando earn the guaranteed playoff berth. The 76ers, who face Milwaukee, need to win and need Toronto and Orlando to lose to move up two spots.
If the Hawks, Raptors, Magic and Sixers all win, they will finish where they currently are in the standings.
In the West, the scenarios are more straightforward. If the Nuggets win at San Antonio, they stay at No. 3. If they lose and the Lakers beat the Jazz, Denver and Los Angeles will switch places in the standings.
The Trail Blazers hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Clippers, so if they beat Sacramento tonight they will finish No. 8. The Clippers could move up if they beat Golden State and Portland loses to the Kings.
Lottery odds and traded draft picks
At the other end of the standings, the Wizards (17-64) have clinched the worst record in the league and thus have the top draft-lottery floor, notes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Washington has a 52.1% chance at landing a top-four pick in the 2026 draft lottery and 47.9% odds at No. 5, which is the worst selection the team can end up with.
The Pacers (19-62) and Nets (20-61) are also guaranteed to finish with bottom-three records and will have identical 52.1% odds at moving into the top four, including a 14.0% chance at No. 1 overall. If the Nets lose this evening and the Pacers beat Detroit, the two teams would tie and a coin flip would determine which team has the second-best lottery floor. The winner of the coin flip can finish no worse than sixth in the draft lottery, while the loser can finish no worse than seventh.
The Clippers will be hoping the Pacers lose tonight, since Indiana will send its 2026 first-round pick to L.A. if it lands outside the top four. The Pacers will retain the pick if it stays in its protected range (top four).
Several other lottery situations are still in flux entering Sunday. The Jazz and Kings are currently tied for the fourth-worst record (22-59), the Grizzlies and Mavericks are tied for the sixth-worst record (25-56), and the Pelicans (26-55) have a chance at making the latter situation a three-way tie. The Hawks will be hoping the Pelicans lose and Grizzlies and Mavericks win, since they control the better of New Orleans’ or Milwaukee’s first-rounders.
Utah will send its first-round pick to the Thunder if it’s not in the top eight. But even if the Jazz finish with the NBA’s fifth-worst record (or finish tied for the fourth-worst record and lose a coin flip), the odds of their pick landing at No. 9 would be minuscule (0.6%).
There’s a chance the Bulls (31-50) and Bucks (32-49) could have a coin flip for the ninth and tenth spots. It would require Chicago to win at Dallas and Milwaukee to lose at Philadelphia.
The four other lottery teams will be the four clubs that are eliminated in the play-in tournament.
Doug Christie Expected To Remain Kings’ Head Coach
It has been a disappointing season for the Kings, who take a 22-59 record – tied for the fourth-worst mark in the league – into the final day of the regular season. However, despite some speculation about his job status, Sacramento plans to keep head coach Doug Christie through the offseason, team sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic.
As Amick writes, Christie took over as interim coach of the Kings in December 2024, when the team fired Mike Brown. Christie, a former NBA guard, was promoted to the full-time position last summer, signing a three-year deal which features two guaranteed seasons.
The Kings feel like they didn’t have a great way to evaluate Christie’s performance in his first full season as head coach, according to Amick, since the roster had issues entering 2025/26 and several key players sustained significant injuries throughout the season.
Anthony Slater of ESPN confirms the news (via Twitter), adding that the team liked how some of its young players developed under Christie this season.
The Kings are expected to resume trade talks involving veterans like Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk and DeMar DeRozan this summer, Amick reports. Sacramento had “extensive” discussions with the Raptors about Sabonis ahead of the February deadline, but the Kings were unwilling to take on the salary of Jakob Poeltl at the time, per Amick.
The Kings haven’t decided what they’re going to do with DeRozan entering the offseason, team sources tell Amick. Only $10MM of the veteran wing’s $25.74MM salary for next season is guaranteed.
Nets Re-Sign Tre Scott On Hardship Deal
The Nets have re-signed Tre Scott via a hardship exception, reports Brian Lewis of The New York Post (via Twitter). Scott’s previous 10-day hardship contract with Brooklyn expired on Saturday night.
Scott’s new contract with the Nets will cover Sunday’s regular season finale at Toronto. He will be an unrestricted free agent after Sunday, since he’s technically not on the standard 15-man roster.
A team qualifies for a hardship exception when it has four players who have missed three consecutive games due to an injury and are expected to remain out for at least two more weeks. Day’Ron Sharpe (thumb), Egor Dëmin (foot), Michael Porter Jr. (hamstring), and Danny Wolf (ankle) all fit that bill for Brooklyn.
Scott, 29, has competed in Puerto Rico, France, and Canada since going undrafted out of Cincinnati in 2020, though he has spent most of his time in the G League, suiting up for the Salt Lake City Stars, Cleveland Charge, Ontario Clippers, Greensboro Swarm, Osceola Magic, and – most recently – the Long Island Nets.
In 47 total outings this season for Long Island, the 6’8″ combo forward averaged 12.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 27.9 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .453/.358/.609.
Scott, who had a 10-day stint with Cleveland back in 2021/22, has appeared in five games with the Nets this season, averaging 8.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 block in 31.2 minutes per contest. His shooting slash line is .381/.286/.667.
Scott will earn $11,773 on the final day of the regular season, increasing his year-end total to $174,503. That total includes both hardship deals and a $45K partial guarantee on a training camp contract he signed last fall.
Projected NBA Taxpayers For 2025/26
As we outlined in February, a total of 14 teams projected to be taxpayers prior to an eventful trade deadline week, with the 16 non-taxpayers on track to receive about $13.8MM apiece in tax distribution money at that point.
However, the Celtics, Nuggets, Suns, Mavericks, Sixers, Magic, and Raptors all ducked below the luxury tax line with their pre-deadline transactions, while a few other teams remained in the tax but took steps to significantly reduce their end-of-season bills.
As a result, seven NBA teams project to finish over the luxury tax line in 2025/26, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
Here are those seven clubs, along with their projected tax penalties:
- Cleveland Cavaliers ($68.7MM)
- Golden State Warriors ($67.9MM) *
- New York Knicks ($44.4MM)
- Los Angeles Lakers ($22.2MM) *
- Houston Rockets ($7.2MM)
- Los Angeles Clippers ($6.7MM) *
- Minnesota Timberwolves ($6MM)
Total: $223.1MM
Note: Teams marked with an asterisk are paying repeater tax rates.
While the projected tax payments are quite similar to the ones from a couple months ago, the total is up slightly overall. That’s because the Warriors, Rockets and Timberwolves signed players to fill out the back ends of their rosters. The Lakers will undoubtedly finalize their roster today — they have one standard opening ahead of Sunday’s deadline.
Based on the current figures from Marks, each non-taxpayer is projected to receive a payout of about $4.9MM. That figure is determined by cutting the total league-wide tax penalties in half, then dividing them evenly among the non-taxpaying teams (in this case, 23 clubs). The projected payout was at $4.8MM in February.
In 2024/25, 10 taxpayers paid a total of $461.2MM in penalties and the 20 non-taxpayers reportedly received $11.5MM apiece. This season’s projected distribution payment of $4.9MM is the lowest figure since 2020/21, according to Marks.
It’s worth noting that the tax penalties could still change again before the 2025/26 league year ends. According to Marks (Twitter links), 36 players had a total of 133 different incentives in their contracts entering the fall, and 15 of those bonuses are still up in the air entering the final day of the regular season. Some of those bonus situations may not be resolved until the playoffs end.
The Warriors, Lakers, and Clippers would all be subject to repeater penalties in 2026/27 if they’re taxpayers again next season. Additionally, the Bucks, Celtics, Suns, and Nuggets would pay repeater rates if they’re in the tax in ’26/27, since all four clubs were in the tax for three straight years from 2023-25. They’ll each need to spend one more season as a non-taxpayer in order to reset the repeater clock.
Free Agent Stock Watch: L.A. Clippers
For the rest of the regular season and postseason, Hoops Rumors is taking a closer look at players who will be free agents – or could become free agents – during the 2026 offseason. We’ll consider whether each player’s stock is rising or falling due to his performance and several other factors.
Today, we’re focusing on a handful of players on the Clippers, who have 10 potential free agents this summer, tied for the second-most in the NBA.