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According to a report from ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, Dallas Mavericks Vice President of Basketball Operations interviewed for the general manager position with the Chicago Bulls.
Sources: Mavericks vice president of basketball operations Michael Finley interviewed for the Bulls' general manager job. Finley, a Chicago native who was twice an All-Star in his 15-year career, has spent the last seven seasons in the Dallas front office.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) April 18, 2020
Two weeks ago, when it became clear the Chicago Bulls would be making changes, DallasBasketball.com reached out to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to gauge his thoughts on his long time vice president. “Michael Finley would be amazing in that role, Fin has had a huge impact on the Mavs... Fin would be so good there, that I don’t know if I would even give permission for them to talk to him.”
After his 15 years in playing in the NBA, where he spent nine seasons and over 600 games with the Mavericks, Michael Finley retired in 2010. Per his LinkedIn, Finley then started his own production company, where he’s since been credited as a producer on films The Butler and Birth of a Nation. He rejoined the Mavericks in a front office role in 2013. Finley has been instrumental with helping the Mavericks improve their draft efforts over the last few years as the organization had to shift to a rebuild during the twilight of his former teammate Dirk Nowitzki's career.
The 47-year-old was born in Melrose Park, Illinois, right outside of Chicago proper. According to JockBio, Finley considered NBA and Bulls legend Michael Jordan his favorite player growing up and played HORSE against him his senior year of high school.
Michael Jordan plays an 18 yr old @MichaelFinley in HORSE and 1-on-1 at the Bulls’ practice facility in Deerfield, Ill! #JumpmanHistory pic.twitter.com/aqhcriuCTc
— Jumpman History (@HistoryJumpman) March 10, 2020
Finley would be a solid get for any front office, but it’s unclear at this time how he’s positioned in the search for the Bulls General Manager. New executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas has much work to do, cleaning up a long inept franchise with a proud history.