The Dallas Mavericks trading Luka Doncic a week ago was one of the most shocking events in NBA history. And it seems the team’s former majority owner, Mark Cuban, tried to kill the deal before it was completed.
The Mavericks were off to a good start this season. After reaching the NBA Finals last spring, they were continuing their high-level play from late last season. However, Luka Doncic suffered a severe calf injury on Christmas Day was the beginning of the end of his career in Big D.
Related: Where do the Dallas Mavericks land in our latest NBA power rankings?
The team went into an unsurprising throughout January. However, there was hope that once the five-time All-Star returned they would get back to being an elite team in the West. However, general manager Nico Harrison believed that the path back to the Finals was actually without Doncic. So he shockingly traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis and a future first-round pick.
Following the stunning trade, many around the basketball world wondered if Mark Cuban would have ever let such a deal happen if he hadn’t sold away majority control of the team two years ago. Well, a new NBA rumor confirms the answer to that question is a resounding no.
- Luka Doncic stats (2024-25): 28.1 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 7.8 APG, 2.0 SPG 35% 3PT
Mark Cuban tried to stop the Dallas Mavericks from trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers
“By the time Cuban found out about the Luka-for-AD trade, it was too late,” NBA insider Mark Stein revealed on Sunday. “Dumont never approached for advice. Sources say Cuban urged Harrison not to go ahead with the swap … only to find out that the deal had already been sealed with the Lakers by verbal handshake.”
Cuban has said very little publicly about the trade. However, all reports suggest he and the young superstar were close. And he had big hopes for his career in Dallas. “Sources say that, for years, Cuban had privately told Dončić that he wanted him to be a Maverick for as long as Nowitzki’s NBA-record 21 seasons with one team,” Stein also reported.
- Luka Doncic contract: Five years, $215 million
The Doncic trade further shows that the man who was once synonymous with the Dallas Mavericks has even less influence on the team than he expected when he sold the franchise to the Dumont family.
“In truth, he has clearly been stung, league sources say, by the lack of advance warning he had on the deal. Yet another harsh signal that he has been pushed farther and farther away from the front office than he ever imagined after his very public belief at the time of the sale of the team in November 2023 that he would retain oversight of basketball operations,” Stein revealed.
Related: Where does Luka Doncic rank among the 50 best NBA players right now?