The Luka Doncic trade never happens with Mark Cuban still being the majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks. That much is plain and simple. The Los Angeles Lakers will never have to think about living in that reality, but others have given it some thought recently.
Sam Quinn, Brad Botkin, and Jasmyn Wimbish teamed up for a thorough list featuring 25 of the biggest 'What ifs' from the last 25 years of the NBA. The Lakers made several appearances throughout.
The vetoed Chris Paul trade had its usual appearance. A conversation about the different timeline that could exist if Kobe Bryant answered the calls of Kevin Garnett was also in the mix. However, the most notable of inclusion of recent memory did involve the Doncic blockbuster in 2024-25.
Cuban sold majority ownership in the Mavericks in 2023, setting the stage for Rob Pelinka's brilliant coup during this calendar year. Cuban will now tell podcasts every repeatedly of his distate for the move, and the Lakers will continue to enjoy their brand-new superstar.
Mark Cuban's regret is the Lakers' biggest victory in recent years
Cuban has not been about discussing how much the trade was not to his liking since it went down. The Mavericks majority owner was bringing it up as recently as an appearance on the Road Trippin' podcast on Thursday.
Cuban said, "I get a text from Nico [Harrison], or maybe he called me, ... I realized he was telling me that this was done. Obviously I was not happy at all. Then I called the owner, Patrick [Dumont], and I'm like, 'What?', and he gave me, basically what Nico told him and I was like, this is gonna be a mistake."
Naturally, based off those comments, and plenty of others like it, Cuban never allows for that trade if he was still owner. Wimbish even suggested in the write-up referenced above that Harrison would have been fired on the spot for suggesting the trade of their now former Mavericks superstar.
If Cuban was still in charge, the Lakers would not have the comfortable future they do with Doncic now at the helm. If that were the case, there would have been no signage at the EuroBasket 2025 tournament that read 'Fire Nico' over seven months after the deal was done.
People still haven't forgotten the Luka Doncic trade to the Lakers 😅🇸🇮 #EuroBasket pic.twitter.com/4qzxcbonHt
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) September 10, 2025
Instead, here we are, living in the reality of Doncic donning purple and gold and committing himself to a future in Los Angeles. This is one what-if the Lakers will be thrilled to be on the right side of.