Dallas, TX
Injured Dallas Mavericks Could Pivot to NBA Draft
On Tuesday, Dallas Mavericks fans again received harrowing news, this time in the form of Kyrie Irving’s season-ending injury.
Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, Irving has officially suffered a torn ACL in his left knee following a fall to the floor after slicing down the lane versus the Kings on Monday night. At 32-years-old, he was amidst an All-Star season, and one of the few driving forces left for the Mavericks’.
The team has already been hindered by the trading of longtime superstar Luka Doncic to the Lakers — a widely covered, but still surreal event — and even moreso by recipient star Anthony Davis getting hurt in his first game with Dallas.
Now, the team is running out of options. Its stars in Irving and Davis are out, ancillary pieces like Dereck Lively, PJ Washington and Jaden Hardy continue to miss time as well, and outside of the growing injury report, the team simply doesn’t seem to have the talent level that took it to the Finals a year ago.
One option — if you can even call it that, given real control over the situation is steadily decreasing — is to position itself for a better pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
As it stands now, the Mavericks rank No. 13 in the reverse standings at 32-30, good for a lottery pick. There’s no hopes of catching the bottom-tier teams in terms of draft odds, but Dallas could in the least rise a few spots with some well-positioned lineups and rotations.
Again, there’s a chance injury luck has done that for them. But at this point, there’s no real purpose in making a dedicated push for the postseason with so little to gain.
The Mavericks have done well in recent years at the Draft, most recently getting one of its best contributors in the late-lottery. While the organization’s 2024-25 season has been a disaster so far, a pick around the top-10 could be a minuscule consolation prize.
Getting one last top-tier selection could be vital, too, as the Mavericks aren’t set to control their future picks for the next several years.
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Jeff Kolb and Sam Gannon welcome Cowboys insiders Clarence Hill (All City Dallas) and Calvin Watkins (Dallas Morning News) for a hilarious breakdown of the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft. Giving insight, arguments, and plenty of laughs as two of the best Dallas Cowboys writers in the business go head-to-head on what Dallas should do next.
Dallas, TX
New video of Lake Dallas explosion draws focus on order decades ago to remove old plastic pipes
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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