Mavericks CEO Rick Welts said “conversations can accelerate now” around a new arena on the site of Dallas City Hall after city council voted to approve a resolution to explore options for leaving the building, according to Eric Prisbell of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. Welts noted that the vote on March 5 was a “very important step in the team’s arena project journey,” as it “enables the Mavericks and the city to formally discuss what the Mavericks’ 50-acre entertainment district and arena could look like in the downtown footprint if the city opts to move operations out of the 48-year-old I.M. Pei-designed building.” Welts “reaffirmed the franchise’s commitment Dallas, called the city’s engagement ‘tremendous’ and reiterated that the Mavericks are ‘on the clock’ as they pursue a move to a new arena when their lease at the American Airlines Center expires in 2031.” Welts said that the city “will determine whether to renovate or relocate City Hall and ‘then we will react to that.’” Welts on whether the city’s timetable aligns with the Mavs’ timeline for choosing an arena site by July said, “That’s out of our control. I don’t know [the city’s timeline]. They haven’t laid out a timeline that I have seen.” Welts said that “any decision on the arena’s location beyond July would ‘start to put real pressure’ on opening the venue in time for the 2031-2032 basketball season.” Prisbell noted the Mavs are also looking at the 110-acre former home of Valley View as a potential arena site (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 3/31).
ONGOING PROCESS: THE ATHLETIC’s Christian Clark noted Welts last week revealed that Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert “suggested to him a little more than a year ago that the Mavericks’ development project could go where the aging City Hall building is currently located.” Welts on Tuesday clarified the nature of that conversation, saying, “She told me that it could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to renovate City Hall. And it could be that the city would have to consider moving out of City Hall. That really was the summation of our conversations.” He added, “We have the ability now to talk to the city about a potential framework of a deal. That’s something we hadn’t been able to talk to the city about before. That process is ongoing” (THE ATHLETIC, 3/31).
NO GM UPDATE: In Dallas, Mike Curtis noted Welts “didn’t provide a substantial update on the comprehensive search” for a new Mavs GM and instead reiterated the team’s “preferred timeline to have Nico Harrison’s successor in place before the NBA draft.” Curtis noted the draft “doesn’t have a solidified date, but will likely be held in June.” Welts was “specific with his choice of words to describe the new leader, refraining to use the title of general manager” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 3/31).
VIBES ARE LOW: SI’s Liam McKeone noted this week “all the Mavericks talk in the news has been about a declaration from [minority owner Mark] Cuban that he regrets selling the franchise.” The vibes around the team “are terrible,” even in light of Mavericks F Cooper Flagg’s “positive development and clear star potential.” It has “never been more clear the franchise is in desperate need of a leadership overhaul” — something Mavericks owners Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont “seem to realize” (SI, 3/31).
