Mavericks' splashy GM hire comes with a $100k draft stain he must erase fast

Masai Ujiri pulled off an incredible first hire as president of the Dallas Mavericks by bringing in Mike Schmitz to be the team's new general manager, but fans can't forget about what happened last season. Schmitz was suspended for two weeks in April (and the Portland Trail Blazers were fined $100,000) after an investigation confirmed he had illegal contact with Yang Hansen in 2023. On top of this, the player Portland tampered with and later traded for on draft night hasn't panned out.

Schmitz's final draft with the Trail Blazers could leave a sour taste in fans' mouths, regardless of the pre-draft expertise he has showcased for over a decade now. This is the one year that Dallas can't afford to have a bad draft, given that this is the only chance to draft a co-star for Cooper Flagg in the lottery, and Schmitz needs to do a complete 180 after what happened with Hansen.

Mavericks need Schmitz to turn the page for the better

Dallas doesn't fully control any of their own first-round picks after this year until 2031, putting the pressure on Schmitz and Ujiri to make a good pick. Their draft capital moving forward is extremely limited, and Schmitz has the opportunity to put the Hansen situation fully behind him by working some magic this year.

The Trail Blazers immediately traded for Hansen's draft rights after the Memphis Grizzlies selected him last summer, and the same player that Portland tampered with had a disappointing rookie season. Despite all of the hype, Hansen averaged just 2.2 points and 1.5 rebounds per game while shooting 31 percent from the field. This is not the production that you want to see out of your first-round pick, and Schmitz will be under pressure to flip this narrative in Dallas.

Drafting Hansen in the middle of the first round after he was expected to be a second-round pick was a huge swing. Those are the types of swings that front offices can't afford to miss on.

Finding a star for Mavericks would erase Schmitz's Hansen mistake

Schmitz has always been known as an international draft junkie, as he worked his way up from working for DraftExpress and ESPN to being the assistant GM for Portland, but the Hansen saga is a bit of a stain on his young NBA career. The Trail Blazers were fined $100,000 for Schmitz and fellow assistant GM Sergi Oliva's tampering, but Schmitz drafting a future star alongside Ujiri this year would throw a huge glob of stain remover right on what happened with Hansen.

This is the biggest role he has had in his NBA career so far, and finding a diamond in the rough in the 2026 NBA Draft would make Mavericks fans quickly forget about what happened last season. Every executive has some misses in the draft, but Dallas can't afford for him to miss for the second straight year as the team searches for a young talent to play with Flagg.

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