Mavs Governor Patrick Dumont shared his thoughts on the Trade Deadline deals that transformed the Dallas Mavericks
On Feb. 13, The Real Estate Counsil (TREC), as part of their Bank of Texas Speaker Series, welcomed Mavericks Governor Patrick Dumont to their stage for a nearly 45-minute discussion. By brief way of background, TREC is a professional organization serving to foster relationships in the Dallas-area real estate industry, mentoring future leaders and influencing policy, among other things. With Dumont’s history in the real estate world and efforts to bring a new Mavericks arena (and then some) to the area, it made plenty of sense to bring the Texas-newcomer to the stage.
Barely two-weeks removed from the Luka Doncic trade at the time of the sit-down, much of the discussion ended up focusing on that transaction rather than real estate deals. Joined by Hillwood CEO Todd Platt (ironically, Hillwood has early ties to the Perot family, from whom Mark Cuban purchased the Mavericks prior to then selling to the Adelson-Dumont family), Dumont had plenty to say on the matter. The video was just recently made public on the TREC website, but we will break down some of the key takeaways (along with video timestamp references in parenthesis) here for ease of consumption. This will serve as Part I of a two-part feature, as there is a fair amount of Mavericks-related content to unpack from the discussion.
“We are part of the community and so I feel like we do have a good sense of the environment in which we operate.” (2:04)
Although this comment was not made in the specific context of the Doncic trade, it’s worthy of mention considering how badly Mavs fans and the community at large have reacted to the move. Had the audience been different – say, Mavs fans per se – the reaction would have been overwhelmingly negative. The sense of anger fans felt toward Dumont and GM Nico Harrison, both who seemingly had no idea how important Doncic was to them, belies the fact Dumont has the good sense of environment he claims to have (at least in this instance). After a two decade-plus run of mutual loyalty between fans, Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks, even those with a cursory knowledge of the team could have anticipated the outrage from the fanbase. The fact that ownership could not is befuddling.
“Tough decisions are never easy. And part of leadership is looking at risk and looking at all the factors of a decision and being willing to act at that time and look to the long-term and not only think about the short-term or how it may be received immediately.” (3:43)
The reference to the long-term is one that immediately elicits ire on behalf of Mavs’ fans. Perhaps Dumont has an accurate bead on a vision very few others can even fathom, but absent that, it is implausible to view the collective Trade Deadline moves as “long-term.” The Mavericks traded a 25-year-old generational talent for a 32-year-old superstar in his own right. Shrinking a championship window by seven years while also giving up the better player does not scream “long term.” The Doncic trade was followed by the Quentin Grimes (age 24) for Caleb Martin (age 29) swap, which we’ve now learned was not in fact a move Grimes requested. Factor in GM Nico Harrison’s interpretation of “long term” being equivalent to the next five or so years and the Mavs’ brass have a much different view than fans who expected another twenty-plus year tenure from their second adopted son and young core around him.
“Going into the Trade Deadline last year, we were not competitive. If you recall, we were not a playoff bound team.” (4:10)
This statement is factually inaccurate. On Feb. 8, 2024 when the Mavericks made the trades for P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, the team had a 29-23 record which was good for sole possession of the eighth seed. Obviously, the team was not projecting to be championship contenders at that moment and they certainly improved massively after the trades. On that basis we can afford a little grace toward the general point Dumont was making, but it is nonetheless inaccurate on its face.
“We looked at our trajectory during the season and realized that we did not get better. But the teams that we competed against, some of which we beat, did get better. And ultimately when you look at the Eastern Conference after we were to get through the Western Conference, if we’re so fortunate, you would have to beat some very formidable teams, including one that we lost to which actually got better.” (4:40)
Whether the team was better or worse than last year is entirely subjective, so we’ll give Dumont the benefit of the doubt that he truly believed this at the time of the trade. Having said that, we also need to be fair to the counter point. During the offseason, the Mavs acquired Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall and Quentin Grimes, while losing Tim Hardaway Jr. and Derrick Jones, Jr. On paper, it is at least a reasonable argument that the team improved (maybe significantly) as a result. Had they not improved as a result of these transactions, it begs a simple question – why did the team do those transactions in the first place then? Thompson was touted as the number one priority, with Marshall being the DDJ replacement and Grimes replacing Hardaway as a younger less streaky option. How then does an Offseason collection of moves which were made specifically to improve the team instead leave the Mavs worse off than they were? Granted the record was not as good as Mavs Nation would have hoped, but discounting a bizarre string of illness and injury which obviously contributed to the Win/Loss columns is omitting much of the landscape. At their healthiest this season, the Mavericks reeled off a red-hot 15-4 record. It’s just plainly difficult to agree the team was not better, at least when healthy.
“This was a decision about the future. If you look at our roster today and who we have, we feel like we positioned ourselves to be incredibly competitive against the best teams in the NBA… so the objective was ‘how do we create a roster for the future that allows us to be the most competitive team?’” (5:02)
This comment is difficult to argue, to a degree. Post-trade, the Mavericks were close to full health for about three quarters of a single game. In that time, the team looked completely unstoppable and were likely poised for a run. However, it’s impossible to ignore when Dumont again speaks to the future. It may just be a matter of semantics, but it’s a bit of a stretch to view the Doncic trade as long-term future team building unless you define “long-term” as the next five years (as opposed to the remaining 15 years of Doncic’s career as your centerpiece). A factor Dumont does not mention, but which could be in play in his mind, is potential future flexibility the team will have without Doncic holding the largest contract in the NBA (something he likely would have commanded this coming Offseason). Harrison alluded to this in his post-trade press conference and for better or worse, it was likely a factor in the decision.
“We want to win championships. We want to be a winning franchise for the city of Dallas. We want to be one of character, one of community involvement and one where we sort of carry on the legacy of the Dallas Mavericks in the right way.” (5:38)
We close Part I of this feature here, in large part because it’s a doozy. It’s fair to believe the Mavs’ brass felt the trade was a set up for championship success. In the moment and likely for a few more years, a healthy post-trade squad as constructed would likely have made some real noise this season and beyond. Yet again, the latter part of this commentary really smacks of inconsistency. Hearing Dumont speak of “character” and a desire to “carry on the legacy of the Dallas Mavericks” will likely cause the fanbase absolute fits. I’ve made every attempt to remain as objective as possible in viewing all of the comments, but its nearly impossible to see this as anything short of disingenuous. Character is simply not displayed by post-trade jabs that blatantly took aim at Doncic’s conditioning, long-term viability to stay on the floor and ultimately his dedication. Further, the legacy of the Dallas Mavericks is the legacy of Dirk Nowitzki, which can be encapsulated in a single word – loyalty. There is almost no realm of reality where you can claim a desire to carry on tradition, yet trade your generational superstar – a superstar that had the full backing of your prior generational superstar, who in turn defined the modern era of who the Mavericks are as a franchise.
In Part II of this feature, we’ll dive into some more of Dumont’s comments during the Bank of Texas Speaker Series, with more of a focus on the team’s likelihood of ever leaving Dallas along with some more Luka-specific feelings Dumont espouses.