Landon Buford
On Thursday, Jason Kidd and Nico Harrison are introduced as the Dallas Mavericks’ new head coach and GM. The franchise earlier this off-season parted ways with longtime GM Donnie Nelson and coach Rick Carlisle.
Kidd comes in two seasons removed from winning a championship as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers. While Harrison comes to Dallas as a former executive with Nike, the franchise hopes to be a major player in free agency this summer and get out of the first round next season. For the first time since Kidd helped the Mavericks won their first championship ten years ago.
I recently spoke with Jamal Crawford and asked him if he saw Dallas as a major player in free agency after adding Kidd and Harrison.
“Yeah, I believe when you have those relationships, Jason Kidd has a million relationships, and Nico [Harrison] has a million relationships. Obviously, Mark Cuban has his own relationships, honestly, if Dirk is helping out, and Michael Finley. These guys have a million relationships that get you in the room and the meetings with these players,” said Crawford.
“However, it all depends on how they feel and their families feel, the organization and how they move. Other players playing there and who have played there in the past tell a potential player how things work here. That all plays a part and it’s all about their comfort level, but 100 percent it gets them on people’s radar and gets them in the room with certain superstars, that did not have access to otherwise.”
The Dallas Mavericks and their fans know Jamal Crawford very well, the last time he was in the American Airline Center. He dropped 51 points against them on the night Dirk Nowitzki announced his retirement from the NBA in 2019.
