Mark Cuban may have sold his majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks, but he hasn't forfeited the right to get candid on the team's future.
Cuban sounded off on the team's decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, saying in a March 6 interview with news outlet WFAA in Dallas that he places some blame on the organization for how it went down.
The outspoken business maven said he is out of the loop with the Mavericks now and learned about the Doncic trade at the same time as other NBA fans.
"From a basketball perspective, you know, I hear about it after the fact," Cuban said. "I don't hear about anything beforehand."
Cuban said while he understood the team's decision to unload their star player, he believes they should have held out for a better return.
"If the Mavs are going to trade Luka, that's one thing," Cuban said. "Just get a better deal. I still firmly believe if we had gotten four unprotected number ones and Anthony Davis and Max Christie, this would be a different conversation."
The Mavericks got significantly less than what Cuban suggested. They shipped Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and just a single first-round draft pick -- three fewer picks than Cuban would have liked.
Cuban was asked whether he would have pulled the trigger on the trade if he were still in charge, but did not want to give an answer.
"I'm not going to go there," Cuban said. "It doesn't even matter."
Related: Former Mavericks Player Reveals Mark Cuban's Honest Opinion of Luka Doncic Trade
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This story was originally published March 7, 2025 at 12:19 AM.