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Familiar Western Conference foe reportedly has Brad Stevens on its ‘wish list’
The Mavericks, who played Boston in the Finals two years ago and have since drafted Maine native Cooper Flagg, are in need of a GM.
The Dallas Mavericks are in the market for a general manager, and they reportedly want to land Brad Stevens.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont has a wish list of possible candidates. Stevens is one of several people on the reported list, which includes Oklahoma City’s Sam Presti and Minnesota’s Tim Connelly. Cleveland’s Koby Altman is “also in the mix,” according to the report.
Stevens, the 2024 NBA Executive of the Year who began his pro basketball career as Celtics head coach, was also mentioned in a report about possible candidates for the University of North Carolina head coach opening. He quickly removed his name from consideration.
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Dallas fired Nico Harrison back in November and has been operating with a co-interim GM set-up involving Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi since.
The Mavericks are in a very different spot from when they played the Celtics in the NBA Finals two years ago. Luka Doncic has since been traded to the Lakers. Anthony Davis, whom Dallas received in the Doncic trade, has already been traded to the Wizards. Kyrie Irving had a season-ending injury.
With a dismal 24-52 record, they’re out of the playoff picture with a potential rebuild lying ahead.
Maine native Cooper Flagg, last year’s No. 1 overall pick, has been one of the bright spots, averaging 20.3 points per game at 19 years old. He recently played his first NBA game at TD Garden and already fielded questions about whether or not he could see himself as a Celtic one day.
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According to the Sports Illustrated report, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd has been having conversations throughout the season about a possible transition to a front office role. However, developing Flagg’s game is a priority for Dallas and the franchise “appears more inclined” to keep Kidd as head coach because of it.
Like the report about the UNC job, this Sports Illustrated piece acknowledged up front that Stevens actually leaving the Celtics for the Mavericks is highly unlikely. They called it a “fanciful” notion. CBS Sports said it would have taken a “prayer” to land Stevens at North Carolina.
Stevens has given no public indications that he’s heading elsewhere. He has one of the best situations in pro basketball to work with.
The Celtics are two years removed from winning a title and have their core of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White in tact. Boston is second in the Eastern Conference and preparing to embark on another playoff run. They put themselves in this position without having Tatum for most of the season.
Stevens has been with the Celtics since 2013, and he just broke through for his first championship two years ago. This team is set up to contend for a while if they’re able to stay together.
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