[Clark] Klay Thompson to the Spurs bench after scoring 14 points in 4 minutes: “It doesn’t matter, we’re tanking
In the second quarter of the Dallas Mavericks’ Feb. 7 road game against the San Antonio Spurs, Klay Thompson got hot. The future Hall of Fame shooting guard made a 3 from the right corner first and then another 3 from the left wing. He scored 14 points in fewer than four minutes.
Amid that flurry, according to multiple sources inside Frost Bank Center, Thompson turned toward the Spurs’ bench and said, “It doesn’t matter. We’re tanking.”
Entering Friday’s game against the Orlando Magic, the Mavericks (24-52) have lost 26 of their previous 31 contests. They have the sixth-worst record in the NBA. The Mavericks control their own first-round pick in this year’s draft, plus the Oklahoma City Thunder’s first-rounder (either the No. 29 or No. 30 selection). Mavericks brass has insisted since trading Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards in February and two weeks later announcing injured guard Kyrie Irving wouldn’t play at all this season that they intend to reset — not rebuild — around Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 pick in last year’s draft. Identifying the right players in this year’s draft is critical to that plan, especially because the Mavericks don’t control their own first-round pick again after this summer until 2031.
The Mavericks, however, first need to determine who will be running their draft process. The team’s search for a new lead basketball executive is beginning to ramp up.
Internal candidates Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley — Dallas’ co-interim general managers since Nico Harrison’s firing in November — are under consideration to get the job. But the Mavericks, league sources said, also have ambitions of going big-game hunting. Team governor Patrick Dumont successfully persuaded NBA Hall of Famer Rick Welts to come out of retirement to run the Mavericks’ business side in one of his first major moves in charge of the team. The Athletic has reported since February that Dumont will target experienced, proven talent to run Dallas’ basketball side, as well.
But league insiders wonder if Dumont will be able to lure one of his top targets — and how he might pivot if he’s unsuccessful.