When the Team Becomes the Legacy
The Dallas Mavericks had a busy offseason. Fans knew it would be after the team sent shockwaves through the NBA in February. The new brass traded perennial MVP candidate and fan-favorite Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for oft-injured veteran forward Anthony Davis. The reactions were understandably swift, emotional, and polarized.
Things are looking up, though. On June 24, they selected Duke phenom Cooper Flagg as the first overall pick in the NBA draft. A few weeks later, on July 7, they re-signed star guard Kyrie Irving to a three-year contract. They brought in D’Angelo Russell on a two-year deal to run the show while Irving recovers from an ACL injury.
What’s exciting for Mavericks fans also holds some important lessons for founders of successful private companies who are eyeing the future. This headline-grabbing roster overhaul provides an unexpectedly rich framework for understanding succession planning.
Every founder-led business eventually faces a fork in the road: how do you scale the business and level-up leadership while preserving the identity and momentum of the company you built? The Mavericks, knowingly or not, just modeled three distinct approaches to that question, each with business analogs worth examining.
The Founder’s Fork in the Road
In my experience advising founder-leaders, when it’s time to scale up your leadership pipeline for seasons of growth, there are typically three viable paths to take:
- Professionalize leadership by bringing in outside talent.
- Develop internal successors from within your organization.
- Monetize the business through a sale, merger, or liquidity event.
At such a high-stakes inflection point, it’s easy to get reactive. Sharp founder-leaders avoid reactivity. They plan, assess the company’s needs, and align their leadership strategy with business goals. Fascinatingly, the Mavericks embody all three options at once.
Let’s break that down.
The Dončić Trade: Letting Go of the Cornerstone
Luka wasn’t just an All-NBA talent; he was the face of the franchise. The decision to move him was as much about identity as it was about roster mechanics. While it’s difficult to discern the wisdom in trading such a player just entering his prime, there’s a proven formula for winning in the NBA. We must consider that, for all his greatness, building a team around Luka did not align with the team’s approach to championship goals.
Similarly, every founder reaches a point where the company’s future may require letting go of what made it great in the past. Sometimes it means relinquishing some of your historic responsibilities. Other times, it means parting ways with a beloved leader or legacy product to open new growth pathways. Like trading Dončić for AD, these decisions can be controversial, emotional, and risky.
Hiring external leaders or cultivating successors often carries similar promise and peril. They may bring experience and fresh perspective, but they also need time to acclimate and earn trust. As with the Mavericks, founders must weigh what they’re giving up today against where they want to be in the future.
Kyrie Irving: The Veteran Who Stays
Kyrie Irving has been one of the best playmakers in the NBA. He’s also a champion who knows how to handle the pressure of the biggest moments. The Mavericks retained a steadying influence on a young roster by re-signing him. In business terms, this is the equivalent of asking a respected executive or founder to stay on in a transitional capacity, bridging the successful past with a new, successful future.
This kind of retained leader can provide crucial mentorship to the next generation of leaders in your pipeline. In times of change, institutional knowledge, cultural continuity, and wisdom, distinguished from talent alone, all matter. The presence of a “Kyrie” allows for smoother transitions, where wisdom is passed down and new leadership has room to grow with guidance. Many founders overlook this. They assume succession means stepping out entirely. However, there is a big difference between transitioning and abdicating. Staying engaged —even in a reduced or emeritus role—can be the difference between success and failure.
Cooper Flagg: The Future in Development
Flagg, the top overall pick, represents the future. He’s unproven but full of potential. The Mavericks are investing in him now, expecting him to quickly become a centerpiece. Flagg’s selection, coinciding with a mentor like Irving returning, appears to set up a winning internal succession.
Identifying and developing talent within your organization takes time, intention, and patience. Sure, you could just tap someone on the shoulder one day and hand them the keys, but it’s unlikely something like that ensures success. If you want to win, you coach them, expose them to real challenges, and support them as needed until they build the resilience to lead. With high level execution, this approach produces leaders who understand your business, embody its values, and lead in their own unique way
Striking the Right Balance
The Mavericks’ approach is a great illustration because they’re getting the chess pieces in place with a plan. They’ve made the moves (Dončić-Davis), retained leadership (Irving), and brought in young talent to develop for the future (Lively, Christie, Flagg, and others). For founder-led businesses, this should be a reminder that while reactivity is to be avoided, rigidity or inaction creates its own risks. Your approach to scaling should be thoughtful and planned. When the Mavericks did the unthinkable, they underestimated the turbulence it would create, but they stayed the course. Now, after a lot of planning combined with a bit of unexpected luck (😊), fans are feeling optimistic. It’s about aligning your leadership structure with your long-term vision.
Whether you’re looking to scale the business, build something entirely new, or make your exit as smooth as possible, the key is to plan deliberately, with full conviction in where you’re headed.
Make Your Next Move with Intention
Preparing your business for a bold new chapter is a defining moment. Like an NBA franchise, your business is more than a collection of talent—it’s a culture, a reputation, and a legacy.
Whether you’re training your Cooper Flagg, retaining your Kyrie, or facing your own Dončić decision, make sure you’re doing it with clarity, confidence, and unwavering support.
If you’re a founder at your own crossroads, I’m here to help you see the full court and run the right play.