Masai Ujiri makes it clear there’s a reason he took the Mavericks job: Cooper Flagg
Dallas lands Masai Ujiri to take over basketball operations it is seen by many as a coup. One of the most respected front office minds in the league, the man who turned the Toronto Raptors into champions, comes to a Mavericks team in the midst of a self-inflicted rebuild (including rebuilding his reputation with his fans) after Nico Harrison made the Luka Doncic trade.
Why did Ujiri choose Dallas? Two words: Cooper Flagg. Ujiri made this abundantly clear in his press conference.(Quotes via Abby Jones.)
Announcement
“The only thing that’s hard to find anywhere, anywhere in sports, is a generational player, and we have one. We planted a Flagg here. We have a player here that can change everything and that’s so hard to find in sports.”
AND…
“You’re going to have Victor Wembanyama, Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards and Nikola Jokic for the next 7-15 years. Okay, now you have to convince me that I have to beat all those guys. Okay, you have to come with something in your pocket, okay? …And he had Cooper Flagg in his pocket.”
And regarding the Doncic trade…
“We have a saying in Africa, we say, ‘when kings go, kings come’ and a king went [Luka] and we have a little prince [Cooper Flagg] here now. He’s turning into a king and I think we need to start thinking that way.”
Announcement
Even from that introductory press conference.
• Ujiri said he will look at every aspect of basketball operations and re-evaluate it. That being said, Jason Kidd may not be safe as head coach.
• Ujiri said he’s excited to see how Kyrie Irving, who missed all of last season recovering from a torn ACL, will look next to Flagg. It didn’t appear that Ujiri was looking to trade the nine-time All-Star point guard.
• Team governor Patrick Dumont reiterated that ownership is committed to Dallas and that while they are looking to build a new arena that will be their home “for 40 years,” it will be in the Dallas metro area.