Former Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban chimed in on the controversial Luka Doncic deal for the first time and left little doubt he sides with legions of miffed Dallas fans.
“If the Mavs are going to trade Luka, that’s one thing,” Cuban said in an interview with WFAA, the ABC affiliate in Dallas. “Just get a better deal. No disrespect to Anthony Davis, but I still firmly believe if we had gotten four unprotected No. 1s and Anthony Davis and Max Christie, this would be a different conversation.”
Cuban retained 27.7% of the team after selling the majority stake in 2024, but he said his involvement with the Mavericks is no longer a factor in any team decisions. He wouldn’t say whether he would’ve traded Doncic.
“I’m not going there. It doesn’t matter,” he said.
Cuban was at the front of the decision-making line in 2018 when the Mavericks acquired Doncic on draft night in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks, who dealt Doncic for the Mavs’ first-rounder, Trae Young.
Doncic was traded by general manager Nico Harrison to the Lakers last month in one of the more stunning transactions in league history, with shock waves still reverberating in Texas. With Doncic gone and Davis hurt in his debut with the team, the Mavericks played point guard Kyrie Irving a league-high number of minutes for a 30-day stretch before he suffered a season-ending ACL tear.
In return for Doncic, Dallas acquired Davis, Christie and a 2029 first-round pick from the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 1. For comparison, the cost for the Phoenix Suns to acquire Kevin Durant two years before the Doncic deal: Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four unprotected future first-round picks and a pick swap in 2028. Phoenix also received T.J. Warren.
Dallas cited the team’s “culture” as part of the reason for trading Doncic, while also expressing concern over the organization’s ability to re-sign him as a free agent. The conundrum was familiar for Cuban, who likened the scenario to deciding to move on from popular point guard Steve Nash.
“I went through this before with when Steve Nash left and then won two MVPs. The good news is that we went to the Finals and won a championship,” Cuban said. “So I’ve been through something — but there wasn’t social media back then, so it wasn’t quite the same. You’re going to make mistakes. I think the biggest challenge the Mavs have right now is there’s nobody who’s really outgoing to communicate.”
