Tag: Dallas Mavericks

Nico Harrison addresses Mavericks’ reported interest in Bronny James

Mavericks president Nico Harrison commented on Bronny James on Friday after the team was reportedly said to be interested in him.

Dallas Mavericks president Nico Harrison declined to comment on draft prospect Bronny James on Friday after the team was reportedly said to be interested in him.

James has been heavily linked to the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns as potential destinations in the NBA draft. He has only worked out for them in the predraft process as he and his agent, Rich Paul, have been selective with his visits.

However, Paul told ESPN this week that three other teams have expressed interest in James: Dallas, Minnesota and Toronto. He said the Mavericks could be a potential landing spot for James with the 58th pick in the second round.

“Minnesota would love to get Bronny in, but I don’t know who their owner is going to be,” Paul told ESPN. “Nico Harrison is like an uncle to Bronny. If the Lakers don’t take him at 55, Dallas would take him at 58 and give him a guaranteed deal. Masai (Ujiri, Raptors president,) loves him. They could take him without even seeing him at 31. Workouts aren’t everything for these teams.”

The Mavericks currently have just the 58th pick in the draft. With James most commonly linked to the Lakers at No. 55, the Mavericks would theoretically have to trade up to take before him L.A. is on the clock on Thursday.

Harrison was asked about James in his end-of-season press conference on Friday, though, because of league rules preventing executives from publicly commenting on draft prospects, couldn’t say much about the former USC guard.

“I don’t think I can say anything about players that are not drafted,” Harrison said. “Rich is going to say what he is going to say.”

James, the eldest son of LeBron James, averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists on 36.6% shooting from the field in 25 games as a freshman at USC. He scored in double figures three times, including a season-high 15 points and three assists on Dec. 30.

The 19-year-old appears to have a handful of teams that he could potentially land, with the Lakers and Suns the likely front-runners at this point of the process. With the draft moving to two nights this year, it likely won’t be until Thursday until we learn where James will go.

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Mark Cuban is reportedly no longer in charge of the Mavericks’ basketball operations side

This is a pretty big change for the Mavericks and Mark Cuban.

The Dallas Mavericks got all the way to the 2024 NBA Finals this past season, but it wasn’t enough to bring back a title to the Lone Star State

As the team tries to rework its roster to make a championship push this upcoming season, it won’t be former team owner Mark Cuban who runs the organization’s basketball operations.

A report from ESPN’s Tim MacMahon revealed on Thursday that Cuban is no longer overseeing that side of the franchise, with president and general manager Nico Harrison reporting directly to team governor Patrick Dumont.

That’s a seismic shift than what Mavericks fans are used to, with Cuban holding such an overwhelming presence over the team for so long.

“There is a clarity in the organizational flow chart that was murky in the past,” MacMahon wrote. “Cuban, despite his claims after selling the majority share of the franchise midseason to the Adelson and Dumont families, no longer has control of basketball operations. Harrison reports to new governor Patrick Dumont, who is kept informed but has shown trust in Harrison to handle roster personnel matters. Dumont rewarded both Harrison and Kidd with multi-year contract extensions during this playoff run.”

While we’re not sure when exactly Cuban lost control of basketball operations after selling the team to the Adelson and Dumont families, but it does heighten the idea that the Mavericks really are in a new era.

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Mavericks offseason primer: How to bridge the gap to first place

Close. Very close. But not quite. Successfully taking a chance on restarting Kyrie Irving’s career opened up a title window for the Dallas Mavericks, who rode the combination of his rejuvenation and the continued brilliance of Luka Doncic all the …

Close. Very close. But not quite.

Successfully taking a chance on restarting Kyrie Irving’s career opened up a title window for the Dallas Mavericks, who rode the combination of his rejuvenation and the continued brilliance of Luka Doncic all the way to the 2024 NBA Finals. And had Luka been entirely fit, perhaps they could have put up more of a challenge. As it is, a Game 5 loss to the Boston Celtics on Monday night saw the Mavericks have to settle for a Western Conference title, and status as best of the rest.

Aside from one Game 4 blowout, the gap between the Celtics and Mavericks was apparent during the Finals. As excellent as Dallas’s front two offensive players are, there is a big gap to the third, and bench contributions also dried up as the playoffs went along. Nonetheless, with almost everyone that matters under some measure of team control, and some promising young pieces (in particular Dereck Lively) that will offer internal growth in the coming season, the Mavericks are well placed this offseason to try and bridge that gap.

With this in mind, here follows a look at the Dallas Mavericks’ roster and spending heading into the 2024 NBA offseason.

Micah Shrewsberry crashes Boston Celtics’ NBA championship celebration

Now that’s a proud former assistant coach.

The Boston Celtics are the NBA champions for a record 18th time in franchise history. They accomplished the feat by knocking off the Dallas Mavericks in a five-game finals. They were the best team in the league during the season and proved it during the playoffs.

[autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] knows the Celtics’ biggest players well. He was an assistant coach under Brad Stevens when Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were drafted, and he stayed on the staff for a few years after until he went back to the college rankings. They clearly remember him as evidenced by this video of Shrewsberry celebrating with Brown and his Finals MVP trophy:

During Shrewsberry’s tenure, the Celtics never got closer than the conference finals, falling to LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers in back-to-back seasons. Obviously, things have gotten much better for everybody since then, and Notre Dame fans definitely hope Shrewsberry will get the Irish closer to their own ultimate goal soon.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Kyrie Irving patiently waited on the court to comfort every Mavs teammate after NBA Finals loss

Super classy move by Kyrie.

On Monday, Kyrie Irving did not win an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks. Still, he didn’t let the realization of that moment stop him from remembering what was important: his teammates.

With Boston Celtics-colored confetti falling around him, Kyrie Irving could have jetted off to the visitors’ locker room, and no one would have blamed him. Instead, after paying his respects to the Celtics, he waited for every Mavs player to leave the court.

In a new video from Monday night’s festivities, Kyrie daps up a few people before patiently waiting for his teammates and several Mavs staff members to walk toward him so he could encourage and comfort them.

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Former Duke basketball star Jayson Tatum wins his first NBA title as Celtics defeat Dallas 4-1

Boston closes out the Dallas Mavericks for 18th NBA Title, giving former Duke star Jayson Tatum his first ring.

On Monday evening, a new NBA champion was crowned.

It’s from a familiar franchise, too. The Boston Celtics, led by former Duke star [autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag], won their 18th NBA title after dismantling [autotag]Kyrie Irving[/autotag], Luka Doncic, [autotag]Dereck Lively II[/autotag], and the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 to wrap up a 4-1 series victory in front of a packed TD Garden crowd in Boston.

The Celtics entered the night with a massive chip on their shoulder after getting wrecked by the Mavericks down in Dallas for Game 4. The Mavericks blasted the Celtics by 40 points on Friday night to keep the series alive, and the Celtics came out ready to play and end the series. The Celtics closed the first quarter of Game 5 on a 9-0 run and never looked back.

For Tatum, years of failures and media slander now become noise. He’s cemented himself in basketball history as one of the stars of a championship-winning team for one of the sport’s most prestigious franchises.

Tatum joins a small list of seven other former Duke players to win an NBA title. Jack White was the most recent in 2023 as a member of the Denver Nuggets.

The former No. 3 pick out of Duke is now an NBA champion, a four-time All-NBA selection, and a five-time All-Star. On top of his championship, he is now set for a record-setting contract extension to make him the league’s highest-paid player. And for a few weeks, he’ll rest and then prepare himself to get ready to play in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris with Team USA.

Jaylen Brown celebrated with his deservedly proud mother after he won NBA Finals MVP

It was heartwarming to see Jaylen Brown and his mom have this moment.

Every basketball player grows up dreaming of winning NBA Finals MVP, and tonight Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown was able to do exactly that.

After he was named The Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player following a the Mavericks during Game 5 on Monday, Boston’s Brown gave a speech in which he also gave credit to his teammates for his success.

The Celtics star then enjoyed a beautiful moment with his mother, Mechalle Brown. It was exactly the kind of situation so many young hoopers and their parents fantasize about when they are young and it was heartwarming to see them share that on the biggest stage:

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An emotional Jayson Tatum reacted to winning his first NBA title with the Celtics

Jayson Tatum was experiencing all of the emotions before becoming a champion.

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For the first time in his professional career, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum has won the NBA championship.

Tatum led the closeout game against the Dallas Mavericks with 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 11 assists during the victory. He also added two steals for the Celtics as well.

Once it started to sink in that the Larry O’Brien Trophy was coming his way, it was easy to see the emotions on Tatum’s face. After he checked out of the game, he sat on the sideline with his head in his palms as he processed what was happening around him.

It was a beautiful moment that was a long time coming for the superstar:

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Social media reacts to Celtics winning NBA Finals vs. Mavericks: ‘Kyrie stomped on the logo and then got stomped out’

The Boston Celtics claimed their 18th title after a commanding 106-88 victory in Game 5 against the Dallas Mavericks. Jayson Tatum scored 31 points and dished 11 assists while Jaylen Brown added 19 points and eight rebounds. Luka Doncic and Kyrie …

The Boston Celtics claimed their 18th title after a commanding 106-88 victory in Game 5 against the Dallas Mavericks.

Jayson Tatum scored 31 points and dished 11 assists while Jaylen Brown added 19 points and eight rebounds. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving combined for 43 points as the Mavs shot 29.7 percent from three-point range.

Here’s how social media reacted to the Celtics winning the Finals for the first time since 2008 and the second time in the last 38 years.

Former Thunder Al Horford, Celtics win championship with Game 5 win over Mavericks

Former Thunder Al Horford, Celtics win championship with Game 5 win over Mavericks.

The Boston Celtics clinched their 18th championship with a convincing 106-88 Game 5 win over the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals. It was a proper exclamation mark to a series they dominated.

Former Oklahoma City Thunder players Al Horford and Svi Mykhailiuk won their first career championships with the Celtics.

Horford had nine points on 3-of-6 shooting, nine rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes. He was a plus-21. The 38-year-old finally won a ring after a lengthy career and numerous postseason battles.

This caps off an impressive season for the Celtics, who were the best team all season and cruised to a championship with a 16-3 postseason record.

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