Where are the Dallas Mavericks headed after deciding on Jason Kidd as their next head coach and Nike executive Nico Harrison as their new general manager?
The selection of Harrison and Kidd came the week after the Mavericks lost coach Rick Carlisle, who led them to their only NBA championship in 2011 and won a franchise-record 555 games in 13 seasons as head coach, and longtime president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson.
Harrison and Kidd, the latter the starting point guard on that 2011 championship team, arrive in Dallas ahead of a crucial offseason, the last for the Mavericks before star Luka Doncic begins an expected max extension to his rookie contract.
What are realistic expectations for Kidd overseeing a roster built around Doncic? And how can Dallas continue to add to the roster? Let's take a look.
Sudden changes for a stable franchise
The makeover of Dallas' basketball operations is right in place in an NBA offseason that has already seen seven coaching jobs open up, with the possibility of more to come. Compared with the rest of the league, the Mavericks had enjoyed remarkable stability. Nelson came to Dallas with his father, former Mavericks coach Don Nelson, and was in the organization for 24 years.
Meanwhile, Carlisle's run had been tied with that of Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat for second longest among NBA head coaches after Gregg Popovich's 25-season tenure with the San Antonio Spurs. (Technically, the Heat promoted Spoelstra to head coach 11 days before Dallas hired Carlisle, per ESPN Stats & Information.)
Although Popovich and Spoelstra remain in their jobs, Carlisle's resignation means the next three longest head-coaching tenures have all ended since the conclusion of the 2020-21 regular season. The Portland Trail Blazers parted ways with former Carlisle assistant Terry Stotts, while Brad Stevens moved from the sideline to take the role of president of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics.
With those changes, Popovich and Spoelstra are now the only head coaches who have been in their role for more than seven seasons with the same franchise.
Remarkably, Carlisle was with the Mavericks long enough that Kidd could wrap up his playing career with a final season for the New York Knicks and hold head-coaching jobs with both the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks before spending the last two years as an assistant with the Los Angeles Lakers all in that span.
Dallas will retain a degree of continuity if vice president of basketball operations Michael Finley, whom the team acquired in the 1996 trade sending Kidd to Phoenix, remains in a key front-office role alongside Harrison. And Kidd is a known quantity for the Mavericks after playing four-plus seasons during his second stint in Dallas, which ended in 2012.
Kidd must find more help for Luka
Kidd is in an interesting spot, because Carlisle didn't depart due to any lack of success. If anything, the Mavericks have probably been ahead of schedule the past two seasons as Doncic has developed from promising draft pick to All-NBA first-team selection at an accelerated speed.
The bigger challenge heading into 2021-22 probably belongs to Harrison and the Dallas front office, which must figure out whether to use cap space or stay over the cap to re-sign the team's own free agents, headlined by Tim Hardaway Jr. Barring a trade involving Kristaps Porzingis, this will be the Mavericks' best chance at cap space for years to come because Doncic has said he intends to sign a five-year extension worth a projected $201.5 million.
Depending on how the Dallas front office reshapes the roster, Carlisle's successor should prioritize finding a way to take some of the playmaking load off Doncic's shoulders. As dominant as he was in the Mavericks' seven-game first-round loss to the LA Clippers, he wore down some under the apparent strain of creating the vast majority of shots for himself and teammates.
During the regular season, backup point guard Jalen Brunson filled that role for Dallas, averaging 12.6 PPG and 3.5 APG while playing 25 minutes per night. But in the playoffs, the 6-foot-1 Brunson struggled against the Clippers' size and versatility on defense, scoring just 18 points total on 7-of-22 shooting over the last four games of the series.
Whether it's finding a better way for Brunson to take advantage of switches or creating more system baskets, the Mavericks must lighten the load on Doncic if they're going to emerge as a serious contender in the Western Conference.
Actually, they could use a player a lot like Kidd during his second stint in Dallas, when he was still an exceptional passer but also a dangerous enough 3-point shooter (39% during that span) to provide spacing when sixth man Jason Terry initiated the offense.
Can Harrison help attract stars?
In the long term, Dallas' potential will be determined by the front office's ability to find a co-star for Luka. That could be Porzingis, provided he's able to bounce back after a healthy offseason. Porzingis looked much more the part of a capable No. 2 option in 2019-20, prior to undergoing surgery to address a lateral meniscus tear. If it's not Porzingis, the Mavericks are probably looking at the trade route to find that player, which won't be easy given that Dallas owes two first-round picks to the Knicks from the Porzingis trade.
First, the Mavericks have to convince a star player that teaming up with Doncic in Dallas is the ideal next step for his career. That's where they surely hope Harrison's relationships with many of the league's best players come into play. Dallas was unsuccessful attempting to add a younger star in free agency after winning the 2011 title, but the Mavericks couldn't offer players the same kind of co-star as Doncic because Dirk Nowitzki was on the back nine of his career by that point.
Unfortunately, Dallas' positioning to have cap space this summer no longer looks advantageous after a series of star players, headlined by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, decided to sign extensions rather than wait to hit free agency. That second star doesn't appear to be on the market, leaving the Mavericks to consider trades.
Luka's ability puts a certain degree of pressure on the Mavericks organization. Even before he signs his rookie extension, the clock is surely already ticking on putting a good enough team around Doncic to convince him he can win in Dallas. Now that task falls to the combination of Harrison and Kidd.