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DALLAS (AP) — Masai Ujiri hadn’t even taken a question from reporters as team president and alternate governor of the Dallas Mavericks when he tacitly acknowledged the chaotic 15 months that have enveloped the franchise.
“Listen, I hope to bring calm,” Ujiri said Tuesday in opening remarks at his introductory news conference just a few moments after trying to soothe his distressed youngest son Amani, the 5-year-old who came to the stage wanting his dad to hold him.
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Ujiri didn’t even have to mention the ill-fated trade of Luka Doncic that ultimately led to the firing of his predecessor, former general manager Nico Harrison.
Or the crazy good luck Dallas got in landing Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick despite just a 1.8% chance to win the draft lottery.
Or Flagg’s difficult debut that ended with 56 losses, but with the former Duke star winning Rookie of the Year.
“In Africa, we say when kings go, kings come. And a king went and we have a little prince here. Now we’re going to turn him into a king,” the Nigerian-raised Ujiri said. “I think we have to start thinking that way. Understand what we’ve gone through. But I hope we can figure out how we reset as an organization with the fans. There’s no other way to do this than winning.”
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The Mavericks were just nine months removed from losing to Boston in five games in the 2024 NBA Finals when Harrison traded Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for older and oft-injured center Anthony Davis.
Nine months after that — when the 2025-26 season started slowly — the Mavericks fired Harrison. Then his interim replacements, co-general managers Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley, sent Davis to Washington before the trade deadline this year. Because of injuries, Davis played just 29 games over parts of two seasons.
The hiring of Ujiri, who spent 13 seasons in charge of basketball operations with Toronto and won a title before getting fired last year, has the feeling of the final step in moving on from the Doncic deal. Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont — a target for plenty of criticism himself — views it a bit differently.
“In my…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mavericks-basketball-boss-masai-ujiri-232016017.html
Author : SCHUYLER DIXON
Publish date : 2026-05-05 23:20:00
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