Dallas to hire Carlisle

DALLAS -- Rick Carlisle will be the new coach of the Dallas Mavericks, a decision expected for nearly a week but slowed by contract negotiations.

The papers aren’t signed yet, but team owner Mark Cuban confirmed in an e-mail Friday night that a deal is in place.

The contract “will be signed [Saturday],” with a news conference Wednesday because Cuban will be out of town.

Reached late Friday, Carlisle said: “Whatever Mark told you is what’s going on. I’m not going to make any comments about it right now.”

Carlisle was the only candidate the Mavericks interviewed after firing Avery Johnson after their second consecutive first-round playoff exit.

Cuban had never fired a coach or hired a coach from outside the organization.

While he and Donnie Nelson, the team’s president of basketball operations, considered other candidates, they settled on Carlisle pretty quickly.

A few interviews later, they began working on the contract and things dragged on.

This is Carlisle’s third time as head coach and his first stint in the Western Conference. He previously coached Detroit and Indiana.