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The Dallas Mavericks went from being games away from the Larry O'Brien Trophy to now being the 13th-seed in the Western Conference throughout a span of less than three years. This fall from grace can easily be rooted to trading Luka Doncic away and having to go back to square one despite six years of player development. Mark Cuban was clearly stressed out due to this situation. The former Mavs majority owner pointed to one regret that could have prevented all of this hardship — the hiring of Nico Harrison.
Former Mavs owner recalls emotions during night of Doncic trade
Since January 4, 2000, Cuban has largely been the face of the Mavs front office. Often, he would be consulted with decisions and seen having a great time with other NBA players. This is why Dirk Nowitzki found it easy to stay with the organization and even won a title for them against all odds back in 2011. The same plan was supposed to happen for Doncic when he got traded to the Mavs from the Atlanta Hawks during the 2018 NBA Draft.
The Mavs had gotten so close to winning it all against the Boston Celtics in 2024 due to Doncic's heroics too. Unfortunately, Harrison pulled the trigger on trading their second franchise star for Anthony Davis without consulting Cuban first. The former owner was understandably shocked about the situation, via The Adam Friedland Show.
"There were a couple of trades in February of 2025 that were not that good. But, I do not want to judge. I think there was a deal with the Lakers but I forget. I got a text from our general manager, Nico. He was like 'give me a call.' I hired him. In hindsight, now, it was a mistake but whatever," Cuban said while laughing
Doncic now plays for the Lakers and are currently fourth in the Western Conference after 65 games. The package the Mavs received during that deal? Well, Max Christie is having a career breakout year for Coach Kidd and Co. Meanwhile, they also got a 2029 first-round pick. Davis, on the other hand, was clearly not the same player and has been shipped out to the Washington Wizards for Khris Middleton
"When he called me about it, I thought he was asking me as opposed to telling me. He was like, 'No, it's done.' I'm like what the f--k and that was it," he added.
Cuban now only owns 27% of the Mavs. The remaining 73% of the stocks are now held by the Adelson family. Harrison was then fired too. There have been a lot of changes in the Mavs organization since that night. The former majority owner clearly had plans to win a title with Doncic.
If he truly did have a time machine, Cuban would have immediately had an easy choice of whether or not he wanted to hire the former general manager.
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