Mavericks' next GM hire is an obvious choice hiding in plain sight

After losing to the Phoenix Suns 123-114 on Wednesday night, the Dallas Mavericks fell to 3-9 in the regular season. Through the first 12 games of the season, there's no doubt that the Mavericks' season has been filled with a roller coaster of emotions, especially after the firing of Nico Harrison on Tuesday morning. Regardless, the product on the floor still has yet to meet the expectations of fans looking for a playoff berth after missing the playoffs for two of the last three years.

While the emotions have been high, the Mavericks must stray away from granting every fan's wish of having a fire sale and trading many key pieces at this exact moment. It may sound controversial, but the team must avoid making any rash decisions until they hire a full-time general manager; however, luckily for fans, the Mavericks may already have their perfect candidate, who has spent multiple seasons in the Dallas front office.

Matt Riccardi made a name for himself this past summer by being the one who attended the NBA Draft Lottery and secured the No. 1 overall pick, which ultimately became Cooper Flagg. The Mavericks put him in the public eye much more than Harrison, even when he was still with the Mavericks, and Riccardi was excellent when it came to the PR side of things. Now, with an opportunity to make his voice heard, the Mavericks must do everything possible to make the Dallas native, Riccardi, the new GM of the Mavs.

Mavericks' perfect general manager choice is staring them in the face

It may be too early to call anything official as the Mavericks are still searching for their next general manager to run the show during the first year of the Cooper Flagg-led era, but with so many names on the table, Patrick Dumont and Mark Cuban must look in their own backyard to make a clear-cut hire. Riccardi has often been an overlooked name when it comes to the Mavericks' organization, but ever since this summer, he has been around much more often.

Dumont emphasized Riccardi being involved more publicly with Harrison's press conferences being such a disaster, and die-hard Mavs fans began to like him more and more as the offseason went on.

Riccardi is not only a Dallas native, and knows what the Mavericks mean to the DFW metroplex, but he quickly became a voice of reason when it didn't feel like any fans had anyone reasonable to listen to within the organization. Not only would a voice like this serve fans well as they look to pivot to a new era of Dallas basketball, but Riccardi has already spent multiple seasons in the NBA, which is something that could not be said for Harrison when he was hired.

The Mavericks are on the cusp of making one of the most important hires in franchise history as they look to mend the relationship with fans and players, but it starts with making a solid general manager hire. Riccardi not only fills multiple boxes, but with concern regarding Michael Finley and other potential targets, Riccardi may be a dark horse candidate to keep an eye on.

The Mavericks need to do everything possible to rebound off a slow start to the season and a rough beginning to the Flagg era of basketball, and Riccardi may be one of the only options the Mavericks have that would make almost every fan happy.

These next few months could have a lot of tell on the Mavericks' future, and having someone passionate about fan opinion and doing what is right for the betterment of the Dallas community should be one of the main priorities for Dumont as he and the team search for their next leader in the front office.