The summer of
total transformation
at the Mavericks
follows
,
after last season's tumultuous finale, in which the Texas franchise had a tumultuous close
. He wasted a clear opportunity (0-2, 2-3 leads with Game 6 on his court) to star in a first-round playoff bombing against the Clippers. And right after, the gale came.
Increasingly vociferous rumors of a bad relationship between Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis
and the end of an era with the departure of manager Donnie Nelson and coach Rick Carlisle. At least Doncic signed his
super rookie extension
, a new contract of five extra years and 207 million dollars. And, according to journalist Tim MacMahon, Porzingis is willing to start from scratch with the new technical organization
after finishing last year convinced that the best thing for him was to be transferred.
Much of the instability and internal troubles of the Mavs were associated, after the appearance of an explosive article in
The Athletic
, to
the figure of Haralabos Voulgaris, a professional in the world of sports betting hired by the Mavs in 2018
as, theoretically,
director of quantitative research and development
. Owner Mark Cuban wanted Voulgaris' novel and risky approach to advanced statistical analysis, and according to Mavs sources, he was gaining power in the franchise's decision-making and finding enemies along the way. One of the most famous, Luka Doncic.
The Slovenian had had, according to the article in
The Athletic
, strong and well-known disagreements within the team
with a figure that for many was
the voice that whispered in Cuban's ear
and with which Nelson's departure was linked.
Now it has been confirmed, as Brad Townsend did in the
Dallas Morning News
, that
Voulgaris will not continue with the Mavs. His contract was ending
, and during the summer there were no clear answers on an issue that Cuban himself avoided in the media. The
new order
, with Nico Harrison as a strong man in the offices and Jason Kidd as a coach, has facilitated the departure of Voulgaris, who after the information published clarified on social networks that he asked to leave the Mavs and that when his proposal was not accepted, it was limited to that, now it has happened, terminated his contract with the franchise.
For many it is great news in the face of internal peace in the Mavs
, where some believed that things were so tense that they could affect Doncic's future on the team.
But now the Slovenian has renewed and will no longer have a Voulgaris around that he did not trust at all.
A very popular disagreement
In the aforementioned
The Athletic
article
,
Tim Cato and Sam Amick aired dirtier than desirable rags that pointed almost all in the same direction: Haralabos Voulgaris. He arrived to fill a position related to statistics and advanced analytics that, however, hardly ended up explaining his real influence on the Mavericks. The owner, Cuban, exercises an iron government that makes an essential character whoever wins his favor. And that became the case with Voulgaris, who according to Cato and Amick became the voice that Cuban listened to and
a character who influenced all of the team's sports operations (transfers, renewals, draft elections ...), including the lineups and Rick Carlisle rotations
, which was said before his departure that angered the players, also Doncic, by his way of moving the team and designing the game. According to the article, concessions to Voulgaris not to lose the position.
Voulgaris' growing influence and demeanor angered many Mavs employees, including team members, including a Luka Doncic who did not get on with him.
"He doesn't know how to talk to people," an anonymous worker from the organization said in the article.
Cuban, for his part, continued to defend his protégé almost to the end: “I really like what he brings. He does a great job of supporting Rick Carlisle and our sports executives with his unique approach to statistics and data. He has a gift for understanding artificial intelligence and how to generate advantages thanks to it ”.
The friction between Voulgaris, who made his fortune betting (with his own analytics programs and algorithms) on the NBA since the 1990s, and Doncic was evident among the Mavs' squad in a February game against the Warriors. After a loss to the Slovenian, the executive (sitting at the foot of the track with his laptop) made a gesture with his arms that seemed to tell Doncic to calm down. But later he said that had not happened exactly, was the straw that broke the camel for the former Real Madrid, who shouted "Do not fucking tell me to calm down" (
do not ask me fucking calm
). Since he already had it lined up,
Doncic also did not forgive him for leaving early in a loss to the Knicks, and pointed out in the locker room that he had left them
stranded
.
The Mavs did not understand that
a near-newcomer made momentous sports decisions, including those for draft picks, or dictated decisions directly to Carlisle.
So now the departure of a character who has had a difficult step, and a dark role, in a Mavericks looking to make a leap forward in the West and be more than just a playoff team is seen as excellent news.
That is the challenge of the new regime in the offices ... and of Luka Doncic on the track.
