Exclusive: GM Donnie Nelson Talks Mavs Trades, Draft, Free Agency

Less than an hour before the NBA lifts its moratorium on trades, Dallas Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson joins our Mavs Step Back Podcast to give us an update on where the team currently stands when it comes to potential trades, the NBA Draft and free agency.

Dalton Trigg | Nov 16, 2020

On what figures to be one of the craziest weeks the NBA has seen in 10 months, Dallas Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson took some time out of his busy schedule to join our Mavs Step Back Podcast for an exclusive interview - to talk about a championship pursuit and much more.

"We absolutely 100% want to get there,'' Nelson told us, "but we don't want to do it at the expense of doing something stupid.''

Less than an hour before the NBA lifts its moratorium on trades, Nelson gives us an update on where the Mavs currently sit when it comes to trades, the NBA Draft, and free agency — all of which commence during this week.

"No one wants a parade in Dallas like our owner (Mark Cuban), head coach (Rick Carlisle), the guys in the locker room, and yours truly," said Nelson when asked about the balance between going all-in now with 'win-now' moves while also leaving some flexibility for the future as well.

"We absolutely 100% want to get there, but we don't want to do it at the expense of doing something stupid. We've got some really good, young, developing players. We're not just going to throw those guys or our draft picks aside and say goodbye to our future for a warhorse who only has one year left in the tank."

With a rumor surfacing today about the Mavs No. 18 pick potentially being used to get a player like 34-year-old Lou Williams, perhaps that was Nelson's way of swiftly shooting that rumor down. Although there's many players who could fit that 'warhorse with only one year left in the tank' description.

Nelson also discusses why other players should want to come play alongside Luka Doncic in Dallas, how Kristaps Porzingis isn't Dirk Nowitzki, but still does things Dirk couldn't do, Tim Hardaway Jr.'s importance to the team, and much, much more! Thanks for listening, and be sure to subscribe!

Published Nov 16, 2020

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.