Former ESPN analyst Mike Schmitz hired as Dallas Mavericks GM

Credit: ESPN

Three NBA Drafts ago, Mike Schmitz was on-air for ESPN, breaking down picks and analyzing prospects. Now, he is the general manager of the Dallas Mavericks.

Schmitz’s meteoric rise from media to the top ranks of an NBA front office leaves him as by far the most successful among a growing contingent of basketball analysts hired away by teams.

Schmitz began his media career working with Jonathan Givony at DraftExpress, and later followed Givony to Yahoo Sports’ The Vertical and, eventually, ESPN. Starting in 2017, when he joined the Worldwide Leader, Schmitz became a fixture of the network’s NBA Draft coverage.

Schmitz became known for his film breakdown interviews with top prospects such as LaMelo Ball and, starting in 2020, played a key role on ESPN’s broadcasts of the NBA Draft, the lottery, and the scouting combine.

The Portland Trail Blazers hired Schmitz in 2022 as an assistant general manager. Recently, Schmitz was suspended after Portland self-reported scouting infractions after making improper contact with their 2025 first-round pick, Hansen Yang.

Schmitz joins a Dallas front office that has been remade since the dismissal of the notorious Nico Harrison. This week, the Mavs hired two-time Executive of the Year Masai Ujiri as lead executive. Schmitz will work below Ujiri.

Dallas’s hiring of a former television analyst like Schmitz is the most notable example of a growing media-to-pro-basketball pipeline.

Analytics pioneer John Hollinger worked for the Memphis Grizzlies for many years before joining The Athletic. Sports Illustrated legend Lee Jenkins is now in the Los Angeles Clippers’ front office. Former ESPNer Royce Young now works for the . Mike Singer, a former newspaper beat reporter covering the , was hired by the team in 2024.