Patrick Dumont Discusses State Of The Mavericks

Patrick Dumont has experienced the extreme highs and lows of NBA ownership in his 27 months as governor of the Mavericks, from a trip to the NBA Finals to the drama surrounding former president Nico Harrison after his controversial decision to trade Luka Doncic.

He knows that until he puts together a competitive, high-level team again, everything he does will be looked at from the standpoint of the post-Doncic era, Brad Townsend writes for the Dallas Morning News in an exclusive sit-down with the team owner.

“I believe in our accountability,” Dumont said. “We have to work hard to make things right.”

Lucking into budding star Cooper Flagg in last year’s draft lottery helps, but as Dallas winds down its second-straight 50-loss season, the real work is only just beginning, and will be headlined by the search for a new president of basketball operations.

“Monday morning, we’re going to get active, and we’re going to talk to a lot of people,” Dumont says. “And we’re going to do our best to make sure that we find the best possible candidate to lead our basketball organization… Our goal is to have someone on board by the middle of May.”

It has previously been rumored that Dumont wants to go big-game hunting in his search, with names like Brad Stevens and Sam Presti coming up, but as heads of successful teams, those two seem unlikely to be gettable.

“We’ll do the work,” he said. “We’ll figure out who’s a great leader. Who can build a great culture. Who has a track record. Who knows how to work with young players and develop them, which is crucial, because if you look at our team right now, we’re going to have a pool of great young talent, led by Cooper Flagg.”

Dumont also spoke about Mark Cuban, who has been in the news this season for talking about regretting his sale of the team as well as addressing the rumors of his involvement with an investor group trying to buy the team away from the Adelson-Dumont family.

“Mark is really passionate about the Mavericks, and I think that’s great,” Dumont said. “I think he’s really, really frustrated about the year that the team has had. And I understand that frustration. I consider Mark a friend. And look, I always appreciate his thoughts… But one thing I do want to say, in terms of ownership, I think we’ve been really clear: We’re not moving the team to another city. The team is not for sale. We’re going to continue to invest in this franchise. We’re going to build a new home for the team, and hopefully in the long term we’ll be able to celebrate that success for many years.”

To that last point, one thing hanging over Dumont is the decision on where to locate the new arena. Dumont and the team are weighing several locations, including the site that is currently Dallas’ City Hall. He says he envisions it as something beyond just a simple arena, but a place that can help give back to the city.

“I think it’s great for the city of Dallas to have a sports and entertainment center where there’s activations, not only when we have our home games, but all throughout the year,” Dumont says. “And I also think it creates a better experience for our fans to be able to have things to do before and after the game, where they can meet family and friends.”

He declined to specify whether most of the money to build such a complex would come from the team or the city, but he noted that some private funding would go into it.