It's no secret that Nico Harrison spearheaded the Luka Doncic trade, but not everyone in the Dallas Mavericks' front office was in favor of this controversial move, as Mark Cuban just doubled down on the fact that Mavericks legend and longtime executive Michael Finley was trying to block the trade.
"Kudos to Finn for really trying to stand up and block it," Cuban said on the "House of Haymaker" podcast. "I wasn't in the room. I'm just telling you from talking right after to people, and I mean Finn was the guy who said this is the wrong thing to do."
Mark Cuban confirms Finley vouched against Doncic trade
Cuban's comments come after he took to another podcast back in early April, where he said Finley wasn't involved in the Doncic trade, but these comments take it a step further in terms of saying he was actively trying to block the deal. While Harrison was clearly the active driving force in the deal, there's no way of telling how much support or severance each member of Dallas' front office had for the deal, but Finley being smart enough to call out the nonsense is notable.
After an illustrious playing career for the Mavericks, Finley has worked inside the front office since 2012, and knows how valuable a superstar player like Doncic is for an organization. His clear disagreement with the trade could very well be the reason he appears to still be in Masai Ujiri's new front office, as Matt Riccardi was let go by Dallas, but there have been no reports of Finley's departure.
Given how Finley stepped up as co-interim GM during this past season, he's a solid piece for Dallas to keep around in their front office should he stay around. It makes sense that Ujiri would want to remove anybody who vouched for the Doncic trade away from the organization, as he's trying to completely reshape the Mavericks' image as they enter the Cooper Flagg era.
Fans can completely let go of any dissent toward Finley now
The more someone like Jason Kidd stuck around in Dallas, there would still be fan outcry regarding his apparent support for the Doncic trade, so the Mavericks and Ujiri are operating smartly in terms of trying to fully move on from the Doncic catastrophe, but not completely cleaning house at the same time by keeping around someone like Finley.
Cuban's had his times of being too outspoken on various radio shows and podcasts regarding the Mavericks, but it's great to see he gave Finley props to the media, as Finley probably never would've come out and talked about this himself. Mavericks fans sought clarification on his role in the trade after the beer incident with Doncic in the 2024 playoffs, and now they have complete closure that he was vying for the Mavericks to reverse course on the deal.
Finley will be a valuable member of Dallas' front office moving forward if he ends up staying around, and now Mavericks fans don't have to hold onto any dissent that he was involved in the most controversial trade in Mavericks and NBA history.
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