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10 best NBA front offices

By John Buhler

Jan 16, 2016; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti watches college basketball between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Oklahoma Sooners at Lloyd Noble Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 16, 2016; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti watches college basketball between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Oklahoma Sooners at Lloyd Noble Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 23, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban react during the second quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder in game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 23, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban react during the second quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder in game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /

player. 79. . West. Southwest. Dallas Mavericks. 7

Despite being the organization top free agents use as leverage in negotiations for some reason, the Dallas Mavericks continue to be one of the best run organizations in all of basketball thanks to their strong and united front office.

Owner Mark Cuban, general manager Donnie Nelson, and head coach Rick Carlisle are about as unified as any organizational triumvirate could realistically be. Cuban provides his organization with the best resources tech/Shark Tank money can buy.

Nelson has a strong scouting sense and will forever be able to use his ultimate trump card of “Yeah, well I got us Dirk Nowitzki!”. That 1998 NBA Draft day trade with the Milwaukee Bucks has given the Mavericks a superstar and Dallas another sports legend in Nowitzki. Nelson also is on the forefront of the analytics movement in the NBA.

What separates Carlisle from the rest of his NBA coaching colleagues is that he is able to out-strategize even the best tacticians in the game today to get a good, but not great Mavericks team wins they would otherwise not get. Dallas’ roster has been on the decline since winning the 2011 NBA Finals, but Carlisle won’t let his team not make the Western Conference Playoffs.

Will Dallas have to honestly rebuild at some point? Certainly after Nowitzki retires in the next few years, but the Mavericks organization has a strong enough culture to ensure Dallas that it will be a brief one at that.

With Cuban, Nelson, and Carlisle working marvelously in unison, it’ll be difficult to keep the Mavericks out of the top half of the league for very long. Expect Dallas to adapt and field a great team by the end of the decade. They have the front office more than capable of making it happen.

Next: 6. Boston Celtics.

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