When the Dallas Mavericks made the franchise-altering decision to trade Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers, former majority team owner Mark Cuban tried to play things down the middle. When asked about the trade, Cuban initially admitted he would have tried to seek a better deal, but failed to say whether he would have made the trade if he were still in charge.
Mavericks fans may have finally received the answer to that question Wednesday, when Cuban made an appearance on the “Your Mom’s House” podcast with comedian Tom Segura. Cuban was asked about the deal around the 54-minute mark of the show.
After explaining he no longer has operating control within the franchise, Cuban revealed he received a text from team general manager Nico Harrison on the night Dončić was traded. Cuban initially thought Harrison was asking for the former owner’s opinion on the deal, but eventually realized the trade had already gone down. Cuban said he responded to the text by saying he “didn’t agree with” trading Dončić. Cuban added, “It wasn’t my decision to make.”
Cuban then agreed with Segura’s opinion that Dončić is a generational player. Cuban compared the situation to allowing Steve Nash to leave the Mavericks after the 2003-04 NBA season. Nash joined the Phoenix Suns and immediately won back-to-back MVPs with his new club. Cuban admitted the decision to let Nash walk would have looked a lot worse had the Suns beat the Mavericks in the 2005-06 Western Conference Finals. Dallas advanced to the Finals that season, but fell to the Miami Heat in six games.
Mark Cuban opens up on Luka Dončić trade
Roughly a month after Dončić was sent to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, Cuban made his first public comments on the trade. During an interview with WFAA, Cuban said he wished the Mavericks would have held out for a better deal for Dončić. When asked by WFAA whether he would have traded Dončić, Cuban declined to answer, saying, “I’m not going to go there. Doesn’t matter.”
Cuban’s comments on Segura’s podcast seemingly answered that question. That response should come as no surprise. Given how angrily Mavericks fans reacted to the Dončić deal, Cuban was wise to further distance himself from the deal during Wednesday’s interview.
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