What the Mavericks’ Offseason Teaches Us About Succession Planning

The Dallas Mavericks had a busy offseason, but the lessons from their headline-grabbing roster overhaul extend well beyond basketball.

After trading perennial MVP candidate and fan favorite Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for veteran forward Anthony Davis, the Mavericks selected Duke phenom Cooper Flagg with the first overall pick. They also re-signed star guard Kyrie Irving and added D’Angelo Russell to help lead the team while Irving recovers from an ACL injury.

For Mavericks fans, these moves offer reasons for optimism. For founders of successful private companies, they offer something else: an unexpectedly useful framework for succession planning.

What can business owners learn from the Mavericks’ offseason? Effective succession planning requires leaders to make three deliberate choices: decide what or whom they must let go, retain the people who can provide continuity, and develop the talent that will lead the organization into the future.

What Is Succession Planning?

Succession planning is the process of preparing an organization for a future leadership transition. It includes identifying potential successors, developing emerging leaders, preserving institutional knowledge, and aligning the company’s leadership structure with its long-term goals.

Every founder-led business eventually reaches a fork in the road: How do you scale the company and strengthen its leadership without losing the identity, culture, and momentum that made the business successful?

In my experience advising founder-leaders, there are typically three paths available:

1. Professionalize the company’s leadership by bringing in outside talent.
2. Identify and develop successors from within the organization.
3. Monetize the business through a sale, merger, or other liquidity event.

At such a high-stakes inflection point, it is easy to become reactive. Effective founder-leaders resist that impulse. They assess what the company needs, clarify their long-term goals, and build a leadership strategy around those goals.

The Mavericks’ offseason is not a perfect one-to-one comparison, but it illustrates the central decisions behind a successful transition: what to change, what to preserve, and what to build for the future.

The Luka Dončić Trade: Knowing When to Let Go

Luka Dončić was not simply an All-NBA talent. He was the face of the Mavericks and a central part of the franchise’s identity.

The decision to trade him was therefore about more than roster mechanics. It forced the organization to reconsider what kind of team it wanted to become and whether its existing structure aligned with its championship goals.

The wisdom of trading a generational player entering his prime will be debated for years. Still, the decision highlights a difficult truth that every founder eventually confronts: the company’s future may require letting go of something that made it successful in the past.

For a founder, that could mean relinquishing responsibilities that once defined the role. It might mean parting with a beloved executive, retiring a legacy product, restructuring the leadership team, or accepting that the company has outgrown its original operating model.

These decisions are often controversial, emotional, and risky. They can unsettle employees and challenge the organization’s sense of identity. However, holding on simply because something or someone has always been central to the company can create risks of its own.

Hiring outside leaders or preparing new successors involves a similar calculation. New leaders can bring experience, energy, and a fresh perspective, but they also need time to understand the business and earn the trust of the people around them.

As with the Mavericks, founders must weigh what they are giving up today against what the organization needs to become tomorrow.

Kyrie Irving: Retaining a Leader Who Can Bridge the Transition

Kyrie Irving has been one of the NBA’s best playmakers. He is also a champion who understands how to perform in the game’s highest-pressure moments.

By re-signing Irving, the Mavericks retained a steadying influence for a roster entering a new era. In business terms, this resembles asking a respected founder or senior executive to remain involved during a leadership transition.

A retained leader can serve as a bridge between a successful past and a promising future. That person can transfer institutional knowledge, reinforce the company’s values, mentor emerging leaders, and provide stability while the next generation develops.

This role is particularly important during periods of significant change. Talent matters, but so do judgment, cultural continuity, relationships, and wisdom earned through experience.

Many founders assume that succession requires them to step away completely. It does not. There is an important difference between transitioning and abdicating.

A founder might remain involved as an adviser, board member, mentor, or executive chair. The appropriate role will depend on the company and the successor, but thoughtful continued involvement can reduce uncertainty and give new leadership room to grow.

The goal is not for the outgoing leader to control every decision. It is to preserve the knowledge and cultural strengths the organization cannot afford to lose.

Cooper Flagg: Developing the Next Generation of Leadership

As the first overall draft pick, Cooper Flagg represents the Mavericks’ future. He is not yet a proven NBA star, but his potential makes him a long-term investment for the franchise.

Placing an emerging talent like Flagg alongside a veteran such as Irving creates the conditions for development. The young player gains access to experience and mentorship while gradually assuming greater responsibility.

The same principle applies to succession planning in a founder-led business.

Identifying an internal successor takes more than tapping someone on the shoulder and handing over the keys. Successful successors must be given time to learn, lead, make decisions, encounter setbacks, and build credibility throughout the organization.

That development should include:

• Exposure to important strategic decisions
• Ownership of meaningful business outcomes
• Mentorship from experienced leaders
• Opportunities to work across different functions
• Honest feedback and executive coaching
• Increasing levels of authority and accountability

When this process is handled well, internal succession produces leaders who understand the business, embody its values, and have the confidence to lead in their own way.

That final point matters. The goal is not to create a replica of the founder. It is to prepare someone capable of protecting the company’s core strengths while guiding it through its next stage of growth.

How Can Founders Balance Change and Continuity?

Strong succession planning balances three forces: necessary change, leadership continuity, and future development.

The Mavericks changed the franchise’s direction by trading Dončić. They retained veteran leadership by re-signing Irving. They invested in the future by adding Flagg and continuing to develop younger players such as Dereck Lively II and Max Christie.

The broader lesson for founders is not that every organization should make a dramatic move. It is that reactivity, rigidity, and inaction all carry risks.

Your succession strategy should be built around clear answers to several questions:

• What does the company need from its next generation of leadership?
• Which parts of the company’s culture and identity must be preserved?
• Which responsibilities should the founder begin transferring now?
• Who can provide stability during the transition?
• Which internal leaders have the potential to take on larger roles?
• What development do those leaders need before they are ready?
• How will the transition support the company’s long-term goals?

The Mavericks made a move many fans considered unthinkable, and the organization underestimated the turbulence it would create. Still, it stayed the course. After significant planning and perhaps a little unexpected luck, the team has assembled pieces that give fans reason to feel optimistic again.

For business owners, the lesson is simple: succession planning is not about replacing one person with another. It is about aligning the company’s leadership structure with its long-term vision.

Make Your Next Leadership Move With Intention

Preparing your business for a bold new chapter is one of the defining moments of a founder’s journey.

Like an NBA franchise, your company is more than a collection of talented people. It is a culture, a reputation, a set of relationships, and a legacy.

Whether you are developing your Cooper Flagg, retaining your Kyrie Irving, or confronting your own Luka Dončić decision, make the move with clarity, confidence, and the right support.

If you are a founder approaching your own crossroads, I can help you see the full court, evaluate your options, and run the right succession planning play.

Frequently Asked Questions About Succession Planning