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Dallas Mavericks general manager Mike\u00a0Schmitz is pictured during a portrait session\u00a0on Friday, May 29, 2026 in Dallas.<\/p>\n
Roberto Hernandez\/Dallas Mavericks<\/p>\n
Mike\u00a0Schmitz didn\u2019t just dream about climbing an NBA front office ladder. He put a timetable on it and backed it up with the necessary work.<\/p>\n
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At his core, Schmitz is a worker<\/a>. A go-getter. The type of guy who makes a list of goals in his 20s and checks off his most ambitious dreams by the age of 35.<\/p>\n Assistant general manager by 30. General manager by 35.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n That plan was more than a decade in the making. He reached the first goal at the age of 32\u00a0\u2014 a little behind schedule. But when Dallas Mavericks<\/a> team president Masai Ujiri hired him as the youngest general manager in the NBA<\/a> on May 8, a few days before his 36th birthday, Schmitz was right on time for his dream job.<\/p>\n \u201cThe timelines, maybe looking back, were a little arbitrary, round numbers,\u201d Schmitz told The Dallas Morning News. \u201cBut I always believe in setting goals for yourself and focusing on the steps it takes to get there and kind of getting lost in the work.\u201d<\/p>\n Former colleagues describe him as a disciplined, passionate and intelligent basketball executive with a relentless work ethic and keen eye for discovering talent. Schmitz\u2019s foresight allowed him to accurately predict the impact several of the league\u2019s brightest stars<\/a> would have on the league: Victor Wembanyama. Luka Doncic. LaMelo Ball. Those qualities are the driving forces in his unique journey from the NBA Development League\u00a0\u2014 the predecessor to today\u2019s G League\u00a0\u2014 to a career in media with DraftExpress, Yahoo Sports and ESPN, ahead of his rapid ascension to one of the most powerful positions in the Mavericks’ front office.<\/p>\n Schmitz took the job just over six weeks before Tuesday and Wednesday\u2019s two-round NBA draft<\/a>, giving him a short runway to evaluate which prospects are best suited for the Mavericks’ three selections at Nos. 9, 30 and 48. He grew up in Phoenix, but the weeklong draft combine in Chicago felt like a homecoming. Reunions with old colleagues and friends. Meetings with agents, prospects and their families. The sharing of knowledge and information. Sitting in the bleachers evaluating the NBA\u2019s future stars, long before they raise trophies and banners.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n This state of constant motion is where Schmitz is most comfortable.<\/p>\n \u201cSince I was a kid, I couldn\u2019t sit still,\u201d Schmitz told The News. \u201cI was always running around the neighborhood with friends. I was the type of guy who\u2019d be out in the Arizona heat for 18 hours a day, playing basketball. I always had a lot of energy as a human. I just enjoy doing things. \u2026 I\u2019ve just never been a very static person. Obviously, there\u2019s times where you want to slow down and kind of find your inner balance. I always had a lot of energy.\u201d<\/p>\n The job of an NBA general manager, especially one tasked with leading the Mavericks back to playoff contention, requires more energy than what you get from a case of Celsius. Perhaps more important is that Schmitz has patience and diligence as the franchise enters the second year of the Cooper Flagg<\/a> era and the first under Ujiri, the new team president and alternate governor.<\/p>\n Ujiri and Schmitz\u2019s relationship goes back at least 10 years, when the Toronto Raptors team president and the contributor for Draft Express spent time scouting players in small gyms all over the world, from South America and Europe to Asia and Africa. Just a few weeks ago, during his second news conference with the Mavericks, Ujiri was asked about his decision to hire Schmitz from Portland, where he spent the previous four seasons.<\/p>\n \u201cThat guy standing over there? That guy?\u201d Ujiri said with a wide smile. \u201cMike Schmitz is an incredible hire for us. I appreciate Portland letting us have him\u2026Whether that\u2019s in Uganda or Russia or Serbia or South America, we\u2019ve been all over the world together. I truly appreciate that because you see the basketball mind, you see the strategy, you see the people relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Humble beginnings<\/p>\n Will Voigt was one of the first to witness Schmitz\u2019s work ethic and keen sense for discovering talent.\u00a0<\/p>\n As the former head coach of the Bakersfield Jam, known in today\u2019s G League as the Motor City Cruise, Voigt hired Schmitz fresh out of Arizona in 2012 as a \u201cvery low paid\u201d video coordinator intern. While the role often entails creating and editing video for players and coaches to use to scout opponents, Schmitz was thrown into the deep end.<\/p>\n \u201cWe treated it like it was the NBA,\u201d said Voigt, the associate head coach at BYU. \u201cWe had to do that with no resources and a quarter of the manpower.\u201d<\/p>\n Schmitz spent just one year with the Jam from 2012-13, but used what he learned to position himself for the future.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In 2012, he sent a cold email to DraftExpress founder Jonathan Givony, offering to make free player evaluation videos.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI basically said to him, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m going to have 30 videos on 30 prospects and if you want them, I\u2019ll send them over to you for free.\u2019 \u201d Schmitz told The News. \u201cI think he heard \u2018free\u2019 and jumped all over it, and so that started that relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n The gesture was low risk with the chance for a high reward, but Schmitz had no idea it would serve as one of the foundational moves to launch a media career that preceded two jobs in NBA front offices.<\/p>\n Dallas Mavericks CEO Rick Welts (from left), team president\u00a0Masai Ujiri and general manager Mike Schmitz attended the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery on May 10, 2026 at Navy Pier Festival Hall in Chicago, Illinois.<\/p>\n Brandon Colston\/Dallas Mavericks<\/p>\n The worldwide leader<\/p>\n ESPN insider Bobby Marks watched Schmitz\u2019s rise from afar, admiring his scouting expertise until they became colleagues at Yahoo Sports in 2015.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n They worked together for two years, along with Givony and former NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, until all four joined ESPN in 2017. They spent several nights together breaking down prospects, most notably during studio shows at the NBA draft. \u201cWe would finish doing draft coverage during the week on Thursday night and I\u2019d be like, ‘What are you doing tomorrow? ‘ \u201d Marks told The News.<\/p>\n \u201c’I\u2019m going to Serbia,’ he said Schmitz responded.<\/p>\n \u201c’What? Don\u2019t you want to take a couple days off? ‘ Marks said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c’No, we\u2019ve got U-16s (under 16),’ Schmitz said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I think why Mike is so good at what he does is that he basically has a catalog of these guys from when they were 12 or 13 years old,\u201d Marks said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Schmitz\u2019s foresight and desire to travel to 50 countries over the last decade made him one of the early evaluators highlighting Wembanyama<\/a>, Doncic and Ball, and it led to him being one of the driving forces behind Portland acquiring Deni Avdija in a 2024 draft-night trade with the Washington Wizards.<\/p>\n Cristina Daglas, former executive editor at ESPN, oversaw the network\u2019s NBA coverage and admired the way Schmitz could disseminate the most complex information about a player to make it more simplistic.<\/p>\n \u201cHe could talk about the prospects in a way that was really relatable,\u201d said Daglas, head of research and identity for the Wizards. \u201cHe could take the complicated nature of some of that evaluation and make it something that was easily digestible soundbites for TV. He was confident in his evaluation.\u201d<\/p>\n Schmitz said his media career helped with improving his public communication. The constant reps of being on live television in front of a national audience forced him into the habit of thinking quickly and relying on his preparation to guide his words. He describes himself as the \u201cyoung guy who always had a chip on my shoulder to prove myself,\u201d which has followed him at every stop.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there was an internal confidence he had that served him well at all of those stops,\u201d Voigt said. \u201cAnd I think a lot of it comes because he does the work.\u201d<\/p>\n Dallas Mavericks team president Masai Ujiri and general manager Mike Schmitz attended the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery on May 10, 2026 at Navy Pier Festival Hall in Chicago, Illinois.<\/p>\n Brandon Colston\/Dallas Mavericks<\/p>\n The tall task ahead<\/p>\n Schmitz hasn\u2019t had much time to soak up his biggest professional accomplishment. Since Day 1, his main goal has been to bring the Mavericks back to the postseason for the first time since 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s a moment where you exhale and feel like, \u2018OK, this is pretty cool,\u2019\u201d he said at the draft lottery, \u201cbut the way I\u2019m wired, I\u2019m ready to go. Next play. Let\u2019s get to work and do this thing at a really high level.\u201d<\/p>\n Like most jobs that require relocation, Schmitz had to find a way to transition as soon as possible. He checked off the first item on his personal to-do list by finding a new home for his wife, who is expecting their first child. He\u2019ll gladly accept any Tex-Mex recommendations from North Texans who know the area well. He juggled those responsibilities with the combine, predraft workouts and getting to know as many people within the Mavericks franchise as possible.<\/p>\n Several decisions lie ahead for Ujiri and Schmitz, from orchestrating a successful draft to navigating free agency and the trade market. It\u2019s possible the team\u2019s core as constructed could be completely different by the time training camp begins in the fall. The Mavericks also need a new director of health and performance after firing Johann Bilsborough, and above all else, they still need a head coach.<\/a><\/p>\n Ujiri is confident Schmitz is the right man to build a roster around the Mavericks\u2019 generational lifeline in Flagg.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s an incredible scout and leader,\u201d Ujiri said. \u201cHe digs deep into work, data and what you really want to know about scouting players, team building, all of those things. Treating people well. Staff organizing. Managing people. It\u2019s a whole package of things you want, and it\u2019s very important that we set a tone now in this organization because the fans want organization, [media], everybody deserves that.\u201d<\/p>\n Schmitz appears ready to embrace the challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do this to win and we do this to win for a long time,\u201d Schmitz said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why we\u2019re here. We\u2019re not gonna skip any steps to do it and we\u2019re gonna have the right approach and the right process.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Mavericks general manager Mike\u00a0Schmitz is pictured during a portrait session\u00a0on Friday, May 29, 2026 in Dallas. 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