05/08/26 03:59:00
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05/08 15:57 CDT Mavericks hire Mike Schmitz away from Trail Blazers as GM days
after naming Masai Ujiri president
Mavericks hire Mike Schmitz away from Trail Blazers as GM days after naming
Masai Ujiri president
DALLAS (AP) --- The Dallas Mavericks hired Mike Schmitz as general manager on
Friday, naming the Portland Trail Blazers' assistant GM to his new role three
days after introducing Masai Ujiri as team president and alternate governor.
The announcement gives Schmitz the title Nico Harrison held until he was fired
in November, nine months after trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in
a move that backfired badly on the franchise.
The Mavericks said Schmitz would oversee day-to-day management and strategic
alignment in the club's basketball operations department.
The move comes with Dallas still not having provided any clarity on the future
roles of Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi. They were named co-interim GMs when
Harrison was fired and engineered the trade of Anthony Davis, the centerpiece
acquired by Dallas in the Doncic deal, to Washington.
Schmitz and the Nigerian-raised Ujiri have strong ties to Africa. Schmitz has
spent time working on youth basketball development in Ujiri's homeland and has
served as an assistant coach with the Ugandan national team.
Schmitz joined the Trail Blazers in 2022 after spending five years as a draft
analyst at ESPN.
"I have tremendous respect for Masai, this ownership group and the vision they
have for the future of the franchise," Schmitz said. "I'm excited to get to
work alongside the talented people already in place and help build a
championship-caliber organization."
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
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