Mavericks Governor Patrick Dumont is “enthusiastic” about bringing in new team President and Alternate Governor Masai Ujiri -- the “splashy hire” Dumont has coveted since he dismissed Nico Harrison as GM in November, according to Mike Curtis of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. Ujiri follows a “recent pattern of Dumont’s desire to lure high-profile and experienced leaders” to the Mavs. He brought Rick Welts out of retirement to serve as the team’s CEO and added T’Wolves CEO Ethan Casson as the franchise’s new president of business operations. After the November dismissal of Harrison, he elevated Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley to co-interim GMs and also appointed Gina Miller as the team’s chief communications officer to make sure the team’s public messaging “was up to par.” Dumont needed to “get this hire right following a tumultuous two seasons” that began with Harrison’s decision to trade G Luka Doncic to the Lakers (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/5). Curtis in a separate piece wrote Ujiri’s opening statement at his introductory news conference Tuesday “conveyed a clear message for what he desires from his first front office job” since parting ways with the Raptors last year. Ujiiri said he hopes to “bring calm to this place.” He added, “And winning. We want to get back to winning.” Ujiri wants to “restore not only the championship caliber of the franchise, but also the environment around American Airlines Center” before his predecessor’s decision to trade Doncic (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/5).
PERFECT ADDITION: THE ATHLETIC’s Eric Koreen writes Ujiri “understands the fans of his teams” and to “some degree, he sounds like the fans of his teams.” Many Raptors fans were “frustrated with Ujiri’s departure from Toronto last June,” knowing “they would never find a lead executive who seemed to care as much as they did.” Koreen adds Ujiri is the “perfect shield” for Dumont. Koreen: “If Dumont and his ownership group were the interlopers from Las Vegas who just didn’t get it, Ujiri will give off the opposite vibes -- that he has 10 toes down in Dallas” (THE ATHLETIC, 5/6).
