Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban once again touched on the shocking Luka Doncic trade during an appearance on the Intersections podcast on Tuesday. Cuban claimed that former Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison and current head coach Jason Kidd had decided to trade Doncic, a decision he disagreed with.
Kidd wasn’t interested in speaking too much about Cuban’s stunning claims before Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, but changed his mind a few days later. The 53-year-old firmly denied playing any role in Doncic being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers after shootaround on Friday.
“I know one of our owners, Cuban, has mentioned that I knew about the trade,” Kidd said, via Mavs Fans For Life. “And so, unfortunately, as I have said, I was not part of the process. I was informed at the 11th hour, and that’s the truth. And the comment that I made in Milwaukee about we have to move forward, we have planted our flag. That’s Cooper Flagg.”
Kidd had claimed back in February 2025 that he only found out about Doncic being traded at the 11th hour. He later made it clear that Harrison had not consulted him on the matter.
All of that made what Cuban had to say quite interesting. Was Kidd lying all this time? Well, he is reiterating that he knew nothing. Kidd also revealed here that he reached out to Cuban after hearing about the comments on the podcast.
“We had that conversation,” Kidd said. “That’s not a public conversation. But understanding that Mark, again, has done a lot for the Dallas Mavericks. And for the city, and for myself. This isn’t about ‘He said, or she said.’ It’s about he has his opinion. And I’m here to tell you the truth.”
Kidd was later asked here to elaborate on that 11th-hour comment and revealed that Harrison just told him a trade was going to go public at 11 p.m. He waited, and then that bombshell dropped.
Ultimately, whether Kidd played a role or not, trading away Doncic was a colossal mistake by the Mavericks. They were parting with a generational player who had not expressed a desire to leave for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick. It was an underwhelming haul.
It was also a big risk to acquire Davis with his injury history, and he struggled to stay on the court during his time with the Mavericks. The big man would play 29 games in about a year and was traded to the Washington Wizards on Feb. 5. This was about the worst-case scenario.
Fortunately for the Mavericks and their fans, they won the draft lottery in 2025. They then selected Cooper Flagg with the first pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, and he has lived up to the hype so far.
As for Doncic, he has shone for the Lakers. The Slovenian averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game in 2025-26.
Doncic’s play led to his name being included in the MVP conversation, but he might no longer be eligible for the award. The 27-year-old has been ruled out for the rest of this regular season with a grade 2 hamstring strain.
Players have to play in at least 65 games to be eligible for end-of-season awards, and Doncic has played in 64. His agent, Bill Duffy, has revealed, though, that he will apply for the “Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge” to the 65-game rule. Doncic had missed two games in December for the birth of his second child in Slovenia, and it will be interesting to see if he is deemed eligible.
