Mark Cuban spoke about passing on Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2013 NBA Draft. Responding to Shannon Sharpe on ‘Club Shay Shay’, Cuban noted that the Mavericks were more focused on improving the team, as they were just two years out from winning a championship. He added that it worked out well for them, as taking Giannis meant they wouldn’t be in a position to draft Luka Doncic in 2018.
“Two different things. When Giannis was getting drafted, that’s when we passed. Because we had Dirk, and this was like 2013. We just won the championship two years ago.”
“So one is, some of our people wanted to go with Giannis, I wanted to trade down and we ended up getting Shane Larkin. Not because of Shane, who could play, but we needed the cap room to go out and sign somebody to propel Dirk… Just the way it worked out. And if we got Giannis, we would never have gotten Luka.”
Cuban clearly thinks very highly of Giannis Antetokounmpo, as he claimed that bringing him in would have improved the team in such a drastic way that they wouldn’t be in a position to get a high lottery pick, thus not being able to draft Trae Young, whom they then traded to the Hawks to land Luka Doncic.
Of course, the issue with bringing in Giannis Antetokounmpo may not have worked, as Giannis plays the same position as Dirk Nowitzki, and he wouldn’t have gotten the playing time that he would need to become the superstar that he is today, and his career would have played out very differently.
Luka Doncic Can Become The Mavericks GOAT
The arrival of Luka Doncic to the Dallas Mavericks helped continue the franchise’s rich legacy of having a European superstar carrying the team. Dirk Nowitzki passed the baton to Luka, and since then, he has been the leader of the Mavericks and helped take them back to prominence as a playoff team.
In a way, Doncic has actually found more success than Dirk Nowitzki did at the same point in his career. At 25 years old Doncic has already taken the Mavericks to the NBA Finals, two conference finals, and made five consecutive All-Star and All-NBA first teams, something Dirk did not do at this point in his career.
Of course, Doncic will want to build on this, as he looks to lead the Mavericks back to the NBA Finals and win the NBA championship. The Mavericks lost quite badly to the Boston Celtics last season. But they’ve gone and added to their team greatly in the offseason.
The Mavs pulled off one of the best free agency signings of the summer, as they signed Klay Thompson from the Warriors. On top of that, they added Naji Marshall to the squad for depth. With the roster they have as presently constructed, the Mavs have to be considered one of the favorites to emerge from the Western Conference.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
