NBA Q&A: GM President Donnie Nelson

Courtesy of 105.3 The Fan

On if the Mavs would rather have an elite point guard or center:

“Look, I don’t think there is any question if you look at some of the challenges we had last year, point guards are very unique, and it’s really hard to find those guys. That’s why we pulled out all the stops to try to get Deron Williams to come back home. Obviously, he opted to stay in New York. I don’t think there is any position as important as point guard regardless of what level you’re playing on. But hey, if you’re talking about the next if not equal, you talk about the big guy in the middle. You look back at history with Hakeem Olajuwon and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and you go right down the list, and it’s very difficult to go deep in the playoffs without an inside presence, defensively certainly so obviously, those are two key positions.”

On if it’s a pipe dream to try to fill those two positions with elite players this year:

“It’s hard to even contemplate. We go into every offseason optimistic and hopeful and aggressive. After that, we let the cards fall where they may.”

On if the Mavericks will approach free agency different this year:

“Well, we go in optimistic every year. As you know, we’re blessed with great ownership that’s willing to do whatever it takes to get a parade back to Dallas. We’ll come in no differently this summer when the time comes and hopefully, we can come up with something good. We’ve always had pretty good success and have taken advantage of our cap space so we’ll put all those things to the test this summer.”