{"id":192015,"date":"2026-04-22T19:49:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T23:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=192015"},"modified":"2026-04-22T19:49:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T23:49:54","slug":"why-mavericks-must-look-elsewhere-for-new-general-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/04\/22\/why-mavericks-must-look-elsewhere-for-new-general-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Mavericks Must Look Elsewhere For New General Manager"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that the season is over<\/a> for the Dallas Mavericks<\/a>, there are a lot of things to tick off the to-do list. A forgotten factor in the firing of Nico Harrison<\/a> by the Mavericks in November 2025 is that he has yet to be replaced. Assistant General Manager Matt Riccardi has shared the role of interim General Manager with Vice President of Player Personnel Michael Finley<\/a>. Both names have been floated as candidates for the permanent job. Current coach Jason Kidd<\/a> has also had his name thrown around in fan discourse. Kidd and Finley, being legends of the franchise as players, are sentimental for sure. With both men still involved with the franchise, they clearly care for the cause. While Riccardi may be a good option, his peers should be kept far away from the Mavericks general manager seat.<\/p>\n

Why Mavericks Must Look Elsewhere For New General Manager<\/h2>\n

Jason Kidd Is Too Smart For His own Good<\/h3>\n

There is a very real argument for Kidd having the best basketball brain of all time. The former point guard would absolutely terrorize offences into his late 30s. A champion with the Mavericks in 2011, he knows what winning means for the city of Dallas. The Kidd-coached 2023-24 Mavs, which made the finals, are probably the best team that the franchise has seen since its sole title. He has the goods. That is undeniable. Kidd’s intelligence can often come across as arrogance, and perhaps it sometimes is. This is why he should not be the guy to give the green light on transactions. While almost all fans of the team would vouch for him to continue as coach, his wisdom should not extend further. Talent development and tactics are his bread and butter. Getting too hoop-nerdy in the trade department has never worked well for NBA franchises.<\/p>\n

While Coach Kidd should absolutely be involved in recruitment and scouting, the Mavericks should keep him away from the telephone. Let him run a tight ship with the team, and let the businessmen do business.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Michael Finley Is A Guy You Just Keep Around<\/h3>\n

While Finley has been involved in the background in Dallas for nearly 13 years now, he is clearly a culture hire. He is a man who commands respect, carries himself with dignity, and refuses to bring the reputation of the Mavericks into disrepute. However, if he had the makings of a GM, he would have been offered a job by now. He is 100% the guy you want people to see every day, both front office and player personnel alike.<\/p>\n

There are very few bigger legends in Dallas than Finley, and for those behind desks, his commitment shows that nothing is handed out in this organization. For young players, seeing a pillar of Mavericks excellence watching them, every game, raises the bar. Especially since 41 games a year are played with his number in the rafters above them. It seems as if the rafters are as high as the name Finley will reach for the Mavs. As far as accolades go, that’s still pretty darn good.<\/p>\n

Featured Image: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that the season is over for the Dallas Mavericks, there are a lot of things to tick off the to-do list. A forgotten factor in the firing of Nico Harrison by the Mavericks in November 2025 is that he has yet to be replaced. Assistant General Manager Matt Riccardi has shared the role of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5787,"featured_media":192041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,30,62],"tags":[218,2130,49881],"class_list":["post-192015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-mavericks","category-nba","tag-jason-kidd","tag-michael-finley","tag-nico-harrison"],"modified_by":"Benjamin Yu","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5787"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192015"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192043,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192015\/revisions\/192043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}