Mark Cuban has given indications that he was not on board with the Dallas Mavericks’ decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. A new report suggests his objections were even stronger than that.
Cuban made an attempt to convince Mavericks GM Nico Harrison not to do the Doncic deal, according to NBA reporter Marc Stein. However, by the time Cuban attempted to intervene, Harrison had already made a handshake deal with the Lakers, and it was too late to stop the trade.
REPORT: Mark Cuban made a last-ditch effort to stop Nico Harrison from trading Luka Doncic, per @TheSteinLine
“By the time Cuban found out about the Luka-for-AD trade, it was too late. Dumont never approached for advice. Sources say Cuban urged Harrison not to go ahead with the… pic.twitter.com/H3wMQs6iXJ
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) February 10, 2025
Cuban still controls 27 percent of the Mavericks, having sold the rest in late 2023. At the time of the sale, Cuban insisted he would remain in charge of basketball operations, but this move makes it quite clear that is not the case. In this instance, at least, Cuban was evidently left in the dark just as virtually everyone else was.
One individual who spoke to Cuban after the trade said the former majority owner was “confused” by the move. Cuban more or less confirmed this publicly, as video emerged of him jokingly asking Bill Gates what Gates would have done if his successor at Microsoft had traded “new hot operating system” Windows 11 for “the Hall of Fame but older” Windows 10.
Safe to say Mark Cuban hates the Luka Doncic trade pic.twitter.com/GPyirwfIp4
— Per Sources (@PerSources) February 8, 2025
Many Mavericks fans have been livid over the Doncic trade, and the new owner’s comments on the deal did not help matters. If Cuban was still in charge, it seems safe to say this move never would have happened.
