Mark Cuban: Michael Finley would be ‘amazing’ with the Chicago Bulls

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban thinks he has an “amazing” candidate for the void that the Chicago Bulls are looking to fill in their front office.

A former star player for the Dallas Mavericks, shooting guard/small forward Michael Finley, back in the day where point guard Steve Nash and forward Dirk Nowitzki led the way, is now trying to make his way into the NBA management sphere. Finley played in the NBA until 2010, spending most of his career with the Mavericks. He never really lived around the Chicago Bulls-landscape until he landed with the Boston Celtics for a brief stint in his final year in the NBA.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban surely thinks that he has the right fit for the Bulls new “powerful voice” they’re pursuing to shift the front office. According to Mike Fisher of Sports Illustrated, Cuban thinks that Finley “would be amazing in that role”. He’s referring to the next general manager and/or vice president of basketball operations that would be taking over in the Windy City.

Finley is currently working as the Mavericks vice president of basketball operations, which is the current role that John Paxson serves for the Bulls. He started his run with the Mavericks front office back in 2012, under Cuban’s direction in an apprenticeship role.

Here’s what else that piece from Fisher of Sports Illustrated had to say on the opinion of Cuban’s advocacy of Finley for the Bulls front office role.

"Finley has performed alongside Cuban, GM Donnie Nelson, coach Rick Carlisle and assistant GM Keith Grant in Dallas, learning all aspects of front-office work.The next Bulls hire will reportedly have autonomy when it comes to basketball operations, including the authority to determine the fate of coach Jim Boylen, whose 2019-20 Bulls are 22-43. Paxson and Forman could possibly stay in Chicago in “advisory roles” under the new leadership – leadership of the sort that supporters of Michael Finley believe he offers.“Fin would be so good there,” Cuban tells us, “that I don’t know if I would even give permission for them to talk to him.”"

The Bulls are heading up their front office candidate search under the direction of president Michael Reinsdorf (son of owner Jerry Reinsdorf). They would be looking to take Paxson and general manager Gar Forman out of their current roles. It would be nice for them to see the door out of the Windy City completely, but getting someone new as the most powerful voice is still a good start.

Entering the novel coronavirus pandemic-induced NBA hiatus, the Bulls held a record of 22-43. The last game they played in came on March 10, in a win at home at the United Center over the divisional foe Cleveland Cavaliers.

Finley was a two-time All-Star selection, one time NBA Champion, and a member of the 1995-96 All-Rookie Team. His NBA Championship came with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007. Most of his NBA career was spent between the Mavericks and Spurs.