The Mavericks recently had an exceptional decade of continuity – Donnie Nelson as team president, Rick Carlisle as coach, Dirk Nowitzki as star player.
Nowitzki retired in 2019. Dallas fired Nelson last week. Carlisle resigned the next day.
The Mavericks now fully enter a new era.
Luka Doncic is the star player. Dallas’ new head of basketball operations and coach? As expected, Nike executive Nico Harrison and former Bucks and Nets coach Jason Kidd, who’s currently an assistant with the Lakers.
Tim MacMahon of ESPN:
Source: Mavs have officially agreed to terms with Jason Kidd to be their head coach and longtime Nike executive Nico Harrison to be the GM and run their basketball operations.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) June 25, 2021
This is quite the experiment.
Harrison took an unconventional path to this job. But maybe he has an aptitude for it. His experience at Nike – identifying and recruiting players, organizing operations – looks like good preparation. Still, it’s tough to tell exactly how that will translate to running an NBA front office, because this is an unprecedented hire.
Kidd had, um, eventful tenures in Milwaukee and Brooklyn. But the Hall of Fame point guard sees the game on a special level. That at least gives him potential as a head coach.
For better or worse, all eyes will be on Dallas. Not only only are Harrison and Kidd interesting hires, Doncic – who’s set to sign a super-max extension that will lock him in five more years – provides an opportunity for massive success.