First let me say that with the win last night against Portland, the
Mavs reached 10 wins.  That means that they are no longer contenders
for tying the worst record in league history.  In all seriousness,
I _NEVER_ want to hear about that friggen record again!
[Oh, yeah, it was also the first team they've beat this season who
 had a winning record.]


The major news is that owner Donald Carter fired Rick Sund yesterday.
Sund was the vice president of operations and was in charge of trades
and drafts.  He had been with the Mavs since 1979 and was the first
person GM Norm Sonju hired.  The key reason for the firing was that
Sund selected and hired coach Quinn Buckner.  The condition of the
Mavs over the past few years also played a role in Sund's firing.

As one article put it, Sund's career in Dallas can be divided into
two halves: the success of building a team from 1980 to 1988 to 
the disaster of the team falling apart from 1988 to the present.
Sund's master stroke came during a four month period starting in
October 1980 when he traded Mike Bratz, Jerome Whitehead, Richard
Washington, and Geoff Huston to Cleveland for #1 draft choices in
1983, '84, '85, and '86.  Those picks turned out to be Derek
Harper, Sam Perkins, Detlef Schrempf, and Roy Tarpley.
Then coach Dick Motta said in 1984, "What Rick did with Cleveland
he ought to be arrested for.  There will never be anything like
that again."
The league has since instituted what is commonly referred to around
the league as the "Sund Rule", a team is not allowed to trade #1 
picks in consecutive seasons.

I tuned into the Randy Galloway show hoping to hear more information.
He talked with both Rick Sund and Donald Carter.  I was very 
impressed with Sund and my opinion of him grew incredibly.  He
took full responsiblity for everything that had happened that was
under his domain, even if it wasn't his fault.  He didn't blame or
bash Carter, Sonju, or Buckner (and Galloway gave him ample 
opportunity to do so - he brought up the Perkins fiasco, Buckner
turning on even Sund, etc).  There was no finger pointing.  Sund
also said (mentioning that he could say it now) that even though
he would have liked the team to have won more games, the Mavs are
in exactly the position he wanted them to be at the start of the 
season - last place.  This season was about giving the players
experience and getting as high as a draft pick as possible.  The
worst thing that can happen to a team is to get stuck at a level
of mediocracy.   Of course, he would have rathered the team be only
one or two games behind the second worst team.  Sund will probably
not be unemployeed for long.  One very good suggestion that I 
heard was for one of the expansion teams to pick him up.

The talk with Carter was much more vague.  Unlike the other big
owner in Dallas, Carter is not a media personality.  Carter 
mentioned that this was one of the changes that needed to be
made.  Galloway picked up on the plural and tried pushing Carter
for what the other changes would be.  Carter wouldn't give any
information and said that he would be getting with his advisors
to discuss things.  Galloway asked if those advisors included
Dick Motta and Carter said yes.  He said that he trusts and
cares about Motta and would do almost anything he says.  [Motta
can write his own ticket within the Mavs organization for what
ever he wants.]  The usual "any decision about Buckner will be
made after the season ends" was heard.  

The rest is pure speculation.  The other change is obviously
Buckner being fired.  Some think that Sonju should have been
the first to go instead of Sund (well, Galloway said Carter, but
that is never going to happen), but Sonju is the business and
financial mind who brought Carter plenty of wealth and success
who Carter will probably never fire.  Look for Sonju to be moved
into a different position with the team (Galloway mentioned maybe
in charge of the new arena plans) as Motta will most likely have 
a more permanent position with the team and Motta and Sonju do 
_not_ get along.  The current rumor sweeping the league (I also 
heard it on NBA Today) is Motta taking over as coach with former 
Mav Brad Davis as an assistant to groom Davis as the future head 
coach (ala Cotton Fitzsimmons and Paul Westphal).  I don't think 
this one will happen as I don't think Motta wants to coach and I 
don't think Davis will make a good coach.  I still see Motta 
taking over the roles Sund and Sonju held and handling trades, 
drafts, and coach hiring and bringing in someone else to deal 
with the financial matters.  This would give him a pivotal role
with the team and would still allow him to spend plenty of time
with his family.  The other rumor floating around is the Mavs 
hiring Don Nelson as the new coach and give him GM 
responsiblities as well.  If that happened, Sonju would still be 
moved as Nelson and Sonju do not get along.  I don't think that 
this will happen either (though I wouldn't mind it) as, despite 
the rumors coming out of California, I just don't see Nelson 
leaving/being fired from Golden State.


patricia