THE The Dallas Mavericks And The New York Knicks seem to be fascinated by each other’s franchises. If they’re not trading players, they’re trading executives. Earlier in the offseason, the Knicks hired the former Mavericks head athletic trainer Casey Smith as the new vice president of sports medicine.
In the latest episode of Ring-Around-the-Rosie, the Mavericks have reportedly hired former Knicks scout Makhtar Ndiaye as their director of pro personnel and international scouting, according to ESPN’s Marc J. SpearsHe was a scout for the Knicks for nine years and played four games for the Vancouver Grizzlies in the 1998-99 season.
With the acquisition of Quentin Grimes This offseason, 2024-25 will be the 12th consecutive season that Dallas will have a former Knick on its roster. 2013-14 was the last time there was no former Knick on the roster, but players like Samuel Dalembert, Wayne Ellington and Shane Larkin would arrive in the Big Apple later in their careers.
The same goes for the Knicks, who have hired former Mavericks players every season since the 2017-18 season, although they traded Doug McDermott to the Mavs that season in a three-team trade. They also hired Roger Hinds as their athletic trainer that season, who worked as a coach in Dallas from 1996 to 2004.
Dallas and New York will play twice on national television this season, in Dallas on Nov. 27 on ESPN and at Madison Square Garden on March 25 on TNT, their final regular-season game on TNT before selling the media rights to NBC.
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