Rumors

Noah Weber: Michael Finley on why he feels ready to potentially take the jump to be the Mavericks’ GM: “I think I am Dallas. I’m everything Dallas is about. I played here, through the good times and the bad times, and as a fan of the Mavericks, I know what it takes and I know what the fans are looking for. So I would love to have the chance to lead this franchise into the future and to ultimately championship contenders.”

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Michael Finley: I respect your opinion . But get your facts right . But I love the energy

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DLLS Mavs: Mavs co-interim general manager Michael Finley talked to @kandc1053 about the infamous video of him taking a beer away from Luka Dončić: “I leave the court. I see number 77 standing over there having a beer, and I say, ‘Congratulations, young fella, you definitely deserve that beer.’ And he's like, ‘Thanks, man, thanks.’ I leave him. I go in the locker room. I celebrate with the rest of the team. We're having a great time. Champagne is being popped. Pictures are being taken and we're having a jolly old time. And I come out of the locker room and our social media department is, is frozen. I'm like, ‘What’s going on guys? What's wrong?’ They said, ‘We wanna take a picture of Luka and his dad.’ I said, ‘Well, take the picture. You guys are great at it, take the picture. They said, ‘But Luka’s holding a beer, he's drinking a beer.’ I said, ‘Well, go take the beer from him.’ They said, ‘What? We can't do that. I said, ‘OK, I'll do it.’ So when you watch the video, I go take the beer, I hug Luka again, and that's why Luka looked like, ‘Man, what are you doing? We just talked about this and you said it was cool.’”

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Ron Harrod Jr.: Mavs co-interim GM Michael Finley talked to @kandc1053 about Max Christie and Ryan Nembhard: “I saw Dirk make a tremendous jump in his game, but it was because of his summer development. And watching Max Christie from last year to this year and then coming into training camp, I saw it. I saw that he improved his body, he improved his game, and all that happened over the summer. “ On Nemby: “I'm a fan of the underdog. I'm a fan of the guys who have to make it to the NBA the untraditional way. And Ryan is a firm example of that. “He's had spot minutes with us early with the Mavericks, but then he took advantage of those minutes. And you have to tip your hat to a guy like that when given the opportunity, he made the most of it. And because of that, we wanna keep Ryan around.”

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Ron Harrod Jr.: Mavs co-interim GM Michael Finley told @1053thefan & @kandc1053 on the Mavs plan to build around Cooper Flagg: “From our vision we're trying to put the right pieces with Cooper. Not just people to be around him and give him the ball. And Cooper go be great and make us great. No, we have to put the right pieces around him that complement his game as well. I think it's our responsibility in the front office to identify a core group of young players that we believe in and help build the right system.”

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Now, the people who didn’t make the Dončić trade are left to clean up the mess. Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi are leading the front office on an interim basis, though Dumont has given them the autonomy to do the job as if they were full time, league sources said. Their direction is the only one that makes sense, given the unfortunate reality Harrison created. Break it down. Build around Cooper Flagg.

New York Times

What is the dynamic between Riccardi and Finley, who’ve become peers over the last four seasons, especially now that they’re sharing a job typically held by one person? “Our jobs haven’t changed,” Finley told The News. “We’re still doing what we were doing under our old boss. The vision hasn’t changed. We’re still trying to keep Dallas as one of the best franchises in the NBA. We’re just putting our own personality on it, so to speak.”

Dallas Morning News

From your perspective, when you look at Riccardi, Finley, Kidd, is there a preference there with how Dumont would value their opinions? Grant Afseth: I don't know if Jason Kidd's opinions value like clear cut more than everybody else. But I do know from a basketball standpoint, his opinions are valued quite a bit by the ownership group. And I know, Mark Cuban is providing input as well. I don't want to make that sound like Mark Cuban's the GM by any means, or Jason Kidd the GM or whatever. But I just know that while they're getting through this, it's really, really important that the head coach has alignment on what they're doing on the basketball court. So by default, you're going to have to rely on like not only is he respected, but you are by necessity going to have to get through, the season with his input value very heavily. So I think that's, probably, like, I don't want to say like he's clear cut, like more important voice wise than the interim GM, but his basketball input is very heavily valued.

Youtube

Also: The famed footage of Finley taking a celebratory beer away from Dončić after the Mavericks clinched a spot in the 2024 NBA Finals, meanwhile, never included a key element of the story: The drink was returned to Dončić and the celebrations continued as soon as he was out of public view in the hallway of the visitors' locker room in Minnesota.

marcstein.substack.com

Yet it's likewise true, sources say, that there is already optimism within the Mavericks' ranks that they can swiftly reintegrate Nowitzki in some capacity — formally or informally — to ensure that his voice is once again heard. Finley and Kidd are two of Nowitzki's closest former teammates and extremely likely to seek his counsel.

marcstein.substack.com

Zach Lowe: I've definitely heard that there were people once they found out who tried to if not stop it then say, "Hey, let's let's pause, reconsider." I don't know where (Michael Finley and Matt Ricardi) stood. Um but if you if you can't if these guys can't come out and truthfully say in a way that no one else in those rooms can rebut privately, according to sources, that they stood up against this trade, I don't think they're going to last as as the co-GMs of the team.

YouTube

Christian Clark: Nico Harrison's firing is official. "A comprehensive search will begin for a permanent replacement," team says. As previously reported, Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley will be co-interim GMs.

Twitter

Shams Charania: The Mavericks and Patrick Dumont have 10:30 am central time meetings to appoint executives Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi to lead basketball operations in interim, sources tell me and Tim MacMahon.

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