play Shams: Mavs 'landed a global basketball giant' in Masai Ujiri (1:15) Shams Charania joins "NBA Today" to discuss the Mavericks hiring Masai Ujiri as their team president and alternate governor. (1:15) ESPN May 8, 2026, 03:58 PM ET The Dallas Mavericks have hired former Portland Trail Blazers assistant general manager Mike Schmitz to oversee the franchise's day-to-day basketball operations under president Masai Ujiri, the team announced Friday. Schmitz joined the Blazers' front office in May of 2022 after serving as a draft analyst for ESPN since 2017. In his new role as the Mavericks general manager, Schmitz will help in "all areas of basketball operations including scouting, player personnel, strategic planning and organizational collaboration across departments." The hire is one of the first by Ujiri, who officially joined Dallas as team president and alternative governor last week. "Mike is one of the most respected evaluators and basketball minds in the NBA," Ujiri said in a statement.…