Mark Cuban decided to sell the Dallas Mavericks this season to the Adelson family for over 10x the value he purchased the team for in 2000 (bought for $285 million, sold majority stake at the franchise valuation of $3.5 billion). After selling the team, Cuban claimed he retained control of basketball operations for the franchise along with a minority ownership stake. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon claims that Cuban has no official say in the Mavs front office.
“Cuban, despite his claims after selling the majority share of the franchise midseason to the Adelson and Dumont families, no longer has control of basketball operations.”
MacMahon then revealed Mavs GM Nico Harrison has already built a strong relationship with new team governor Patrick Dumont, who has given Harrison control to shape the team however he sees fit.
“Harrison reports to new governor Patrick Dumont, who is kept informed but has shown trust in Harrison to handle roster personnel matters. Dumont rewarded both Harrison and Kidd with multi-year contract extensions during this playoff run.”
Cuban brought this team to the dance by overseeing a summer re-tooling that worked wonders for the franchise. He’s still a team owner and will likely always have his courtside seats but he can’t force the front office to make certain deals he would like them to.
The Mavericks Are Confident They’ll Return To The NBA Finals
The Mavericks look like a dramatically different franchise from the one we saw 12 months ago. The team was flailing without a roster identity and a lack of usable assets. But GM Nico Harrison identified the right pieces to add to the team over the season, making them the Finals contender they became.
Kyrie Irving spoke frankly on the Mavericks’ chances of coming back to the NBA Finals in the coming seasons after their improbable run as a No. 5 seed this season.
“Very confident [in the team’s future]. That’s one positive that we can take from this series, just how far we made it and how proud I am of the guys. We answered a lot of questions this year on what we’re capable of doing. Now it’s just about being consistent. I think, probably in the last week, I said that I wanted [us] to be remembered as one of the best teams of this era.”
With the work that Harrison has been doing as GM, the Mavericks will feel confident in the decision-making that goes behind these moves. Head coach Jason Kidd should also weigh in on these decisions, so as to avoid another Christian Wood situation where the Mavericks have a talented player who can’t get a rotational role because Kidd doesn’t like his defensive habits.
As long as the Mavs have Luka Doncic, they’ll be a threat to win 50+ games every season. Mark Cuban will be remembered for his contributions to the franchise, but if this iteration of the Mavs end up hoisting the 2025 or 2026 NBA Championship, Cuban won’t be the one lifting the trophy.
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