Mark Cuban Finally Answers Whether or Not He Would Have Done the Luka Doncic Trade
03/21/2025 03:50 PM
Former Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban finally answered what he would have done if he had the chance to trade Luka Doncic away. Cuban, who sold the majority stake in 2024, retained 27.7% of the team.
While he was initially expected to keep control of the team's operations, new owner Patrick Dumont slowly pushed him away to give general manager Nico Harrison the keys to the car.
During a Wednesday conversation with Tom Segura on the "Your Mom's House" show, Cuban rejected the idea of him trading Doncic away, saying that the decision came from both Harrison and Dumont.
"If I had any influence, the trade wouldn't happen," Cuban said after admitting he wasn't in control of the basketball operations anymore. "I was just as dumbfounded as everybody else."
"If I had any influence, the trade wouldn't happen. I was just as dumbfounded as everybody else. After I sold the Mavericks, the new owner Patrick Dumont decided that 'Ok, in Nico we trust.' So, here we are."
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 21, 2025
- @mcuban on Luka
(h/t @KirkSeriousFace)
pic.twitter.com/JbMhUzjKkZ
This is the first time Cuban has admitted he wouldn't have traded Doncic. On March 7, he refused to answer what he would have done in Harrison's position during a conversation with WFAA's Jonah Javad.
"I'm not going there. It doesn't matter," he said.
Cuban said in 2020 that he would rather get a divorce than trade Luka Doncic away. The new Mavericks' management didn't share that feeling and opted to send the Slovenian guard to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis.
The big man only played three quarters during his Mavericks debut, while Doncic has played 16 games with the Lakers, posting 26.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 8.0 assists, helping them reach the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference before LeBron James went down with a groin injury.
