Dallas Mavericks CEO Rick Welts has broken his silence on the Luka Doncic trade. Welts, 72, previously served as the Golden State Warriors President from 2011 to 2024 and a Mavericks Advisor beginning in 2024. Welts’ resume includes five NBA Championships as an executive in 1979, 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022. The Seattle, Washington,native’s alma mater, the University of Washington, helped him succeed in various executive roles. Read on for further details.
Rick Welts’ Statement
Before becoming the Dallas Mavericks’ CEO, Rick Welts was widely known as the third highest-ranking official in the NBA from 1996 to 1999 as the NBA’s Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. Welts recently spoke with The Dallas Morning News’ Brad Townsend about the Doncic trade and other Mavericks topics. He started with how he “probably underestimated the reaction” fromMavericks fans about the trade.
Welts continued with his belief that the Mavericks did the “best we can, basically, with the staff and trying to do the right thing with everybody who touches the Mavericks. It’s incredibly emotional, an incredibly difficult time for so many people. But I still believe we’re going to come out on the other side, with a future that’s incredibly bright. That’s kind of my glass-half-full approach there.”
Luka Doncic Trade
The Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic trade for the Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis was arguably the most shockingin the NBA in recent years. But the Mavericks aren’t done making changes. The Mavericks reportedly plan to get a new arena, which Welts recently described as “the most important thing I’ll probably do while I’m here, to make sure we get that right.”
Welts said, “This will look nothing like Chase Center [Golden State Warriors]; it will look nothing like the Intuit Dome [LA Clippers]. This will hopefully be the greatest expression of what Maverick fans would expect when they walk into the arena to see a Mavericks game. It will have everything about Texas and Dallas that we can bring to it, to give it a shape and form that will be a foundation for economic competition over the next 30 or 40 years.”
The Dallas Mavericks’ arena, the American Airlines Center, in downtown Dallas will see its lease expire in 2031. The team’s ownership group, the Adelson and Dumont families, have reportedly been “very open” about “wanting to build” an arena with casinos attached to it. This was one of the reasons why the former Majority Owner Mark Cuban sold the team, as Cuban reportedly supports casino resort gambling, but isn’t a casino businessman.
Final Thoughts
Multiple sources reported that Cuban didn’t want the Dallas Mavericks to go through with the Doncic trade. However, Cuban had his professional and personal reasons for selling the Dallas Mavericks to the Adelson and Dumont families. Cuban’s decision arguably didn’t warrant any anger from the Mavericks fans as the fans likely couldn’t control the Doncic trade from going through without large amounts of money in hand.
There have been rumors that the Mavericks’ new ownership group might have been trying to move the Mavericks to Las Vegas after the absurd Doncic trade. Mavericks Governor Patrick Dumont has denied such rumors in a recent statement. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has also denied namesake rumors. That said, Welts might’ve gotten verbal attacks, but Welts’ extensive experience could turn the Mavericks around soon.
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