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NBA Courtside: Jeanie Buss on how the Luka Doncic trade went down: “Dallas wanted Anthony Davis and he was on our team. Conversations started but it was important they remained private…. Those conversations started in the beginning of January… Rob Pelinka was able to pull it off all without it leaking to the media because I think Mark Cuban would’ve jumped in front of a train to keep it from happening. Nobody knew including Luka, Anthony Davis, and LeBron James. We had a game in New York that night, the coach knew this was going to happen but he still had to coach the game. It wasn’t a distraction” (Via https://youtu.be/gHPMuGZe3IE?si=gMgVyp6VAiYhwCrL…)
Within league circles, there’s a strong belief that Dallas will eventually pursue Timberwolves president Tim Connelly for their lead executive position. Amid that buzz, the Minnesota Timberwolves have expressed interest in extending Connelly as their lead executive for the foreseeable future, league sources told HoopsHype.
Along with considering internal candidates Finley and Riccardi, Dumont made it clear that the search has and will be extensive. He says he believes Dallas, as a dynamic city and top-four media market, is a draw for candidates, as is the potential for building around 6-9 Flagg’s multidimensional talents. Then he described the intangibles he wants. “They're going to set the tone for everything that we do from a basketball perspective,” he says. “We're looking for someone who can set the direction of our basketball team, put the right pieces in place to achieve our goals and set the right culture. “It's got to be a culture that will lead us to win championships and someone that can build that culture. “The other thing is, communication is key. Having the ability to communicate effectively across the organization, communicate with our fans and lead this basketball organization is going to be crucial.”
He knows that until earned otherwise, his 27-month tenure as team governor largely will be defined by the night that can’t be erased and the trade that can’t be undone – for which he says fans had every right to hold the franchise and specifically himself accountable. “This team is about the city of Dallas,” he says. “It's about our players doing well and our team winning, and it's about our fans. “I believe in our accountability. We have to work hard to make things right.”
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Chris Mannix: Sam Presti's not leaving Oklahoma City for Dallas. Brad Stevens is not leaving Boston for Dallas. Could Tim Connelly be in the mix? I think maybe. We'll see how his situation plays out in Minnesota. There's a lot of moving parts out there. I think Koby Altman is someone to keep your eye on in Cleveland. Something could potentially be in play there, but this is really ownership you know, coming out and saying, well, like wow, we've got this job. Let's go big game hunting. Let's go shoot for the stars there. But I think the two biggest names are not in play. Connelly, Altman maybe. I also wouldn't dismiss Jason Kidd as a candidate for this job. I mean, Jason Kidd is very well respected for what he's done in Dallas. And he's very well liked by ownership. And if he wasn't the head coach of this team doing a great job developing Cooper Flagg, he might be in consideration more strongly. But I think the only thing holding Jason Kidd back or or preventing him from being a real candidate for this job is the fact that Dallas wants to keep him on the bench and wants to keep some stability with Cooper Flagg in his second year in the NBA. But I would still keep my eye on that. I think that's something that Jason is, let's say he's interested in. I would say he's very interested in that job in Dallas.
Anthony Davis on being traded to Dallas: Look, from the business standpoint I can't be mad, but like why? I couldn't understand it. Nobody told me nothing. Nobody said a thing to me. So you just catch me off guard like yeah you traded to Dallas. That's what I couldn't get over it, and I still can't get over it, I think I deserve much more respect than that. All the time I've been here, six years, all the time I've been there, we won a championship, all this stuff and I can't get a phone call or a text to tell me like ‘look, this is what we're thinking.’ So all I'm saying, all I know is that that Rob, what you was calling me for was to tell me that I was getting traded, but that was already 10 minutes before the trade was before about to be announced. So you already knew this already, or you had to at some point a conversation had to start about me being traded for Luka, right? And it never got to me or like, hey, this is what we're thinking, whatever, right? So I think that's the biggest thing that kind of like f*ck with me this entire time.
Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick says he just wants to move on after the Dallas Mavericks contradicted his contention that their medical staff incorrectly conducted an MRI on Austin Reaves last weekend. Reaves is out for the rest of the regular season after straining his oblique during the Lakers' blowout loss at Oklahoma City last Thursday. He was examined in Dallas, where the Lakers had subsequently traveled for their next game, by the Mavericks’ medical team in a courtesy typically extended by home NBA teams to their visitors.
Khobi Price: Jarred Vanderbilt has been upgraded to available for tonight at Dallas. Kobe Bufkin, Dalton Knecht and Adou Thiero have also all been recalled from the South Bay Lakers over the last couple of days.
Cooper Flagg on draft day: That was a thing, bro, cuz it was like my agent's talking to me and they're like whatever you do, just don't react to anything. Cuz I guess like guys in the past you know, in a similar position of like if it's a team they didn't want, like will react in a bad way and like make a face like they were upset or something. So you know, the whole time I'm just in there like, all right, just don't react. If it's like I said cities, but if it's somewhere I didn't want to go, like just don't act upset. And then once it came to like the top three and it was like it was like what? Charlotte? No. Philly, San Antonio, Dallas. Philly, San Antonio, Dallas. I was like man, being in Texas would be great. Like I was thinking about state taxes. I was like, this is amazing. So then I was just like, all right, well now I just got to contain my excitement. Like you know, any of those two. Then I saw, you know, it's San Antonio, Dallas top two. I was like, okay. And so like people say from my reaction like I didn't look happy and I was like what was I was trying to not react in any way and just kind of be stoic. So tried my best to keep a straight face, but it's hard I got the guys next to me like my teammates from my show like smiling and laughing and like poking at me and trying to get me to react and I'm like, bro.
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Khobi Price: Lakers' injury report for tomorrow at Dallas: Marcus Smart (right ankle contusion) will miss his 7th straight game. Jarred Vanderbilt (right calf soreness) is questionable. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are out for the rest of the regular season.
Before coming to Dallas, Welts had a 10-year run with the Golden State Warriors. In Welts’ time in the Bay Area, he worked closely with Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers. An agent who went on to win two NBA Executive of the Year awards, Myers is comfortable in front of the camera and is known for his strong interpersonal skills — two qualities important to the Mavericks, team sources said, after watching Harrison struggle in both areas.
The person Dumont hires as his lead basketball executive will have to make the final call on what to do with both of Dallas’ first-round picks; decide if the Mavericks should use one of their many frontcourt players to try to get more guard help; and weigh whether to extend Dereck Lively II, the team’s talented 22-year-old center who, because of injuries, has played in just 43 games over the past two seasons. “Whoever they hire has to be able to get Cooper to buy into their vision,” one NBA front-office staffer who was granted anonymity so they could speak freely told The Athletic. “That’s the most important thing.”
