The Dallas Mavericks are a completely different team since Mark Cuban sold his majority share of the team. The last season that he was the majority owner, they made the NBA Finals. Cuban sold the team just a few months before the Mavs took on the Celtics for a title.
Shortly after that, new ownership came in and allowed GM Nico Harrison to trade Luka Doncic. That trade is widely viewed as one of the worst trades in sports history. Dallas has already traded Anthony Davis, who was the chief player they got in return for Doncic.
Now that most of the dust has settled from that trade, Cuban has some regrets when it comes to Harrison.
Mark Cuban Wishes He’d Never Hired Nico Harrison to the Mavericks
While appearing on The Adam Friedland Show, Cuban admitted that hiring Harrison as the general manager was a mistake. He talked about when he learned that Doncic was being traded.
“We were having a beer, and I got a text from our General Manager, and he’s like give me a call.”
When asked if he regretted hiring Harrison, Cuban came clean.
“I hired him. Yeah, in hindsight now. It was a mistake, but whatever.”
Cuban was also confused as to whether Harrison had executed the trade or if he was asking Cuban for his approval.
“He was like ‘Mark, call me.’, and I did. When he told me about it, I thought he was asking me as opposed to telling me. Then he was like, ‘No, it’s done.’ What the f—. And that was it.”
Cuban is already on record that he never would have allowed Doncic to be traded if he were still in control of the franchise. He was the face of the franchise and was the most popular player in the city. Now, he plays for the Lakers and signed a long-term extension there.
Dallas Will Forever Be Haunted by the Luka Doncic Trade
Unless Cooper Flagg is able to lead the Mavericks to a championship in the next few years, the Doncic trade will forever haunt the franchise. Dallas was lucky enough to win the draft lottery last season when they had no business doing so. Now, they will build everything around Flagg.
Harrison didn’t do all bad things while he was the GM. He made the controversial decision to trade for Kyrie Irving. He was able to be the second ball-handler that Doncic needed, and he was a key piece of their Finals run. Still, Harrison was not able to live down the Doncic trade.
It’s highly unlikely Harrison will ever get a job as an executive in the NBA again. This trade will haunt him forever, just like it will the Mavericks. Dallas is tanking this year to see if they can get lucky for the second year in a row and get the top pick in the draft again.
Cuban is still a part-owner of the team, but he will not be taking back his reins as the majority owner.