In an appearance on ‘Your Mom’s House’ with Tom Segura and Christina Pazsitzky, former Mavericks owner and legendary businessman Mark Cuban set the record straight on his feelings about the Luka Doncic trade. He confirmed that the move never would have happened under his watch and that the new owner (Patrick Dumont) gave Nico Harrison full authority.
“If I had any influence, the trade wouldn’t happen,” said Cuban. “After I sold the Mavericks, the majority owner Patrick Dumont decided that he was comfortable with Nico Harrison, the general manager, and the team he had put together which was his choice. You can’t totally argue with him because we went to the Finals. It was his choice and he made his choice and I’m just a fan now. Over time it was just like ‘Ok, in Nico we trust.’ So, here we are.”
After giving up his position as the majority owner, Cuban lost his voice and he had no choice but to watch as the Mavericks gave up one of the best young prospects of this generation. Mark was just as shocked as everyone else on the night of the trade.
“I was in Florida at a conference. It was 11 at night and I got a text,” said Cuban. “It was from our general manager and I thought he was asking me what I thought. And then I realized very quickly that he was telling me what happened and I told him I didn’t agree with it but it wasn’t my decision to make.”
It was in the early hours of the morning that the Luka trade was announced, and we found out later that it involved weeks of secret negotiations between Nico Harrison and Rob Pelinka. They somehow kept the whole thing under wraps and Nico didn’t think to seek guidance or approval from the man who built up the team for 20+ years.
Then again, Mark Cuban isn’t blameless either. Nobody forced him to give up his majority share of the Mavericks for $3.5 billion. He did that of his own volition and is now left with a 27% minority stake and zero control over basketball activities. He ran the show from 2000, building up the franchise to prominence and helping them win their first championship in 2011.
Cuban was still leading the Mavericks when they drafted Luka Doncic, and he saw his potential right away. During Luka’s early years in Dallas, Cuban tried a mix of teammates to help him succeed, including Kristaps Porzingis and Jalen Brunson. Cuban vowed to make Doncic the face of the franchise, even stating publicly that he’d sooner get divorced than trade his young superstar.
All of that went out the window when Dumont took over, enabling Nico Harrison to turn on Doncic over his conditioning and poor work ethic. He got what he wanted by trading Luka but it has resulted in an unprecedented level of scrutiny and backlash.
To make matters worse, the Mavericks are a shell of themselves on the court this season without Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis, and Kyrie Irving, who have all either been traded or injured.
At 33-37 (losers of four straight games), the Mavericks are in free-fall down the standings and now they’re on track to miss the postseason entirely just one year after a run to the NBA Finals. It’s a true disaster in Dallas, and Mark Cuban saw it coming from a mile away.
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