Dallas Mavericks 'Aiming High' for Nico Harrison's Replacement

The Dallas Mavericks fired Nico Harrison as their general manager back in November, and while they would like to have his replacement named by the draft in the offseason, they're also not going to settle for an option. Team governor Patrick Dumont wants the best of the best, even if that means going through a little humiliation.

Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix revealed that there are four executives on the Mavs' wish list, and they just so happen to be among the elite of the league.

︀︀“I’m told that Patrick Dumont, the team’s governor, is aiming high," Mannix said. "Among the names on Dumont’s wish list, per league sources: Oklahoma City executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti, Minnesota president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, and Boston president Brad Stevens. Cleveland top exec Koby Altman’s name is also in the mix, a source said.”

It's no coincidence that two of those executives, Brad Stevens and Sam Presti, are responsible for the last two championships and are right in the hunt again this year despite OKC's Jalen Williams playing just 30 games this season and Boston's Jayson Tatum just returning a few weeks ago from a torn Achilles.

If you ask most people around the NBA who the best executive is, Presti and Stevens would probably garner a vast majority of the votes.

It has become a meme in college basketball that you have to make Brad Stevens say no before moving on to your real targets, and now that is spreading to the NBA for an entirely different role.

Connelly and Altman have more of a mixed bag of results in their tenures. Connelly was slammed for trading as many assets as he did to the Utah Jazz for Rudy Gobert, but the Jazz are still tanking, and the Timberwolves are contenders. Really, it just hampered their ability to make additional trades, especially once they made the bad trade to go up and get Rob Dillingham in the 2024 draft.

Thunder general manager Sam Presti speaks during an introductory press conference for the 2024 Thunder draft picks at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center in Oklahoma City, Saturday, June, 29, 2024. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

A More Realistic Set of Targets for the Mavericks

As of now, the Mavericks are running with a co-interim GM setup of Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi. They've done as well as you could reasonably ask, as they were able to find a trade for Anthony Davis that gave them draft capital, which includes two picks in this loaded 2026 class, and massive financial relief. To get that for a player past his prime in Davis is a massive win.

They've also been able to add a solid two-way player like John Poulakidas, who has a legitimate three-point stroke. Hitting on two-way players is a great indication moving forward. I don't think anybody would be too upset if they ended up as the full-time GMs.

You also have to keep an eye on Dennis Lindsey, who was a senior advisor with the Mavs for the 2023-24 season, the one year they made it to the NBA Finals. He has since been with the Detroit Pistons in their resurgence as a Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations. He still has a lot of fans in the building in Dallas. Jason Kidd may try to weasel his way into that role as well.

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