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Jeanie Buss: I mean, in order to trade somebody like Anthony Davis, it would have to be with approval. Not only that, but a first round draft pick and certainly getting a player of Luka's caliber and being at the beginning end of his career was just an extraordinary opportunity, but it required a lot of strategy and a lot of small steps in order to pull it off. and Rob Pelinka, our general manager, was able to do that all without leaking to the media because I think Mark Cuban might have jumped in front of a train to keep it from happening.
Earlier this year, Marc Stein reported an unidentified group wanted to partner with Cuban in an attempt to buy the Mavericks back from the Adelson family. Cuban sold 73% of the team to the Adelsons in December 2023 and watched the team trade away Luka Dončić to the Lakers in February 2025. Front Office Sports recently asked Cuban whether he wanted to buy the team back. “If there was any chance of being able to do that anymore I would, but that’s just not the game anymore,” Cuban told FOS on a forthcoming episode of Portfolio Players. Cuban still owns 27% of the team, but the terms of the sale give the Adelsons the right to buy another 20% of the Mavericks within four years of the deal, which would leave him with just 7% afterward.
Cuban has been outspoken about the trade and direction of the franchise since he sold his majority stake. He recounted precisely what happened with the reported investors who sought him out. “What happened was a bunch of people had contacted me; they weren’t happy with the way things were,” Cuban told FOS. “And I was like, ‘Look, if you can get them to sell, I would be more than happy to contribute my equity, et cetera, et cetera, and help.’ But I didn’t expect that to materialize. I told them I didn’t think it would happen, that I didn’t think the Adelsons had any interest in selling. And they don’t.”
NBA Courtside: Jeanie Buss on how the Luka Doncic trade went down: “Dallas wanted Anthony Davis and he was on our team. Conversations started but it was important they remained private…. Those conversations started in the beginning of January… Rob Pelinka was able to pull it off all without it leaking to the media because I think Mark Cuban would’ve jumped in front of a train to keep it from happening. Nobody knew including Luka, Anthony Davis, and LeBron James. We had a game in New York that night, the coach knew this was going to happen but he still had to coach the game. It wasn’t a distraction” (Via https://youtu.be/gHPMuGZe3IE?si=gMgVyp6VAiYhwCrL…)
Front Office Sports recently asked Cuban whether he wanted to buy the team back. “If there was any chance of being able to do that anymore I would, but that’s just not the game anymore,” Cuban told FOS on a forthcoming episode of Portfolio Players. Cuban still owns 27% of the team, but the terms of the sale give the Adelsons the right to buy another 20% of the Mavericks within four years of the deal, which would leave him with just 7% afterward. Cuban has been outspoken about the trade and direction of the franchise since he sold his majority stake. He recounted precisely what happened with the reported investors who sought him out. “What happened was a bunch of people had contacted me; they weren’t happy with the way things were,” Cuban told FOS. “And I was like, ‘Look, if you can get them to sell, I would be more than happy to contribute my equity, et cetera, et cetera, and help.’ But I didn’t expect that to materialize. I told them I didn’t think it would happen, that I didn’t think the Adelsons had any interest in selling. And they don’t.”
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Mark Cuban: When you flatten the odds, the number of trades will explode. It was impossible to know who would win the tankathon in the off season, and the leading tankers aren’t trading their picks at the deadline BUT you can have a good idea who isn’t a top 8 team in your conference. And teams will do everything they can to trade for their firsts. Get 2 non playoff firsts in a draft, and you have a good shot of having better odds than the bottom 3 this year. And even 2 picks at 5.4 pct each, makes you the equal of a tankathon 4 or 5 team. The question is what puts you in a position to trade for 1sts? Cap room at the deadline. Teams that were headed to the 2nd apron and needed saving. Give me that future first. Willingness to trade good players. Want my best player. We aren’t going anywhere this season. Give me that future first. I think the games to stay out of the bottom 3 will be fun. I think the protection limits are smart. Don’t want teams in the playin making decisions on draft vs win. But teams still have to figure out how to win and now, grabbing as many picks as possible, is the highest value approach Once you know you have the little c next to your team … can’t make the bottom 3, if it’s before the deadline, you can get aggressive If you don’t have a team you like, you make any trade that gets you a first. Just imagine if you have a good young team. But just not good enough to win a ring. And you believe the best player ever is coming this draft , you literally could trade your future firsts , plus your really good young , valued players and when combined with your own pick, or picks you already had, get 5 firsts that give you, with some luck , a 40.5 pct chance of winning the lottery. Still an almost 60 pct chance you won’t. But it sure would be interesting as it plays out. The good news for the nba, the bottom 3-2-1 is smart. The better news for Shams , the trade rumors are going to be off the charts as teams try to “aggregate up” to get the best odds they can
Jeanie Buss: Those conversations started the beginning of January, right? I'll never forget that's when all of Los Angeles was on fire. In order to trade somebody like Anthony Davis, it would have to be with [my] approval and… certainly getting a player of Luka's caliber and him being at the beginning end of his career was just an extraordinary opportunity. But it required a lot of strategy and a lot of small steps in order to pull it off. And Rob Pelinka... was able to do that all with it out leaking to the media, because I think Mark Cuban might have jumped in front of a train to keep it from happening. Nobody knew, including Luka. And Anthony Davis. And we had a game in New York that night. And so the coach knew that this was gonna happen, but he still had to play the game. And we won the game that night... Then all the world turned upside down.
But when The News asks whether he and Cuban can effectively function as partners, Dumont takes the high road. “Mark is really passionate about the Mavericks, and I think that's great,” Dumont says. “I think he's really, really frustrated about the year that the team has had. And I understand that frustration. “I consider Mark a friend. And look, I always appreciate his thoughts. And I appreciate his frustration. “But one thing I do want to say, in terms of ownership, I think we've been really clear: We're not moving the team to another city. The team is not for sale. We're going to continue to invest in this franchise. We're going to build a new home for the team, and hopefully in the long term we'll be able to celebrate that success for many years.”
NBA Courtside: Mark Cuban on almost trading for Kobe Bryant: “It was 2007, Kobe was ready to get out. And I was on Dancing with the Stars. Google me. I didn’t win. There was a dude named Elvis who was a production assistant, right? And he was just Kobe love everything. I’m between breaks, I’d be like, Elvis, I need a quiet spot. And I would talk to Rob Pelinka, his agent at the time, and he’s like, “Okay, if you can get Dr. Buss to approve. And I talk to Dr. Buss and he was ready to do it. And it was like two first, Josh Howard and Jason Terry for Kobe. And I thought, “Okay, this is done. And I told Elvis, “This is done.” And I went to practice on my jive or whatever. And then we got a call from Rob that Mitch Kupchak, right? Had talked Kobe out of it. That close. And I was telling Dirk the whole time. He goes, “You can trade me. I would trade me for Kobe, too. And I’m like no Dirk the whole point is y’all two.” (Via @club520podcast)
Mark Cuban on almost trading for Kobe Bryant:
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) April 6, 2026
“It was 2007, Kobe was ready to get out. And I was on Dancing with the Stars. Google me. I didn’t win. There was a dude named Elvis who was a production assistant, right? And he was just Kobe love everything. I’m between breaks, I’d… pic.twitter.com/Q85PrbrHWx
Ron Harrod Jr.: Jason Kidd on if he felt blindsided by Mark Cubans claim that he knew about the Luka trade: “When I found out about it, I just looked at it as this is just Cuban. And he has a right to his opinion, but I’m here to tell you the truth.”
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Ron Harrod Jr.: Jason Kidd on if he reached out to Luka Doncic after Mark Cuban’s comments: “Understand that Luka is in the other side. He’s trying to kick our butt. We’re trying to kick his butt. Understand that there’s not going to be a phone call to Luka.”
Tim MacMahon on Mark Cuban comments regretting selling Mavs: This comes on the heels of the story that Marc Stein had. I don't remember exactly when it was. Was it right around the All-Star break, I believe? So anyways, I don't remember, last month sometime, where it's like Cuban and this group of mystery investors are trying to put together a plan to buy back the Mavericks and then Cuban shot that story down to the Dallas Morning News a couple of days later. And listen, I don't like getting into the business of guessing who one of our colleagues or one of our peers sources are or what their sourcing is, but I can just tell you, people close to Patrick Dumont, the governor of the Mavericks, are pretty sure that Mark Cuban leaked the story in the first place. So it was put to me, they said ‘Mark Cuban is one hell of an arsonist and a firefighter.’
Tim MacMahon on Mark Cuban: He's he knows he's not buying the Mavs back. It's going to go the other way. Adelson and Dumont families can buy 20% more of Cuban shares, get them down to 7%, that's going to happen. Cuban's frustrated because he thought he was going to get back in at least the room in terms of you know basketball decision-making and Dumont listened to him as far as like the lobbying to fire Nico Harrison, and there was a meeting where Cuban was in the room and then Cuban realized damn I'm really not going to have any say. Like they really don't want to hear what I have to say. So Cuban's mad.
Not just any trade, Jason Kidd realizes, but The Trade of Luka Doncic from which the franchise largely has moved on – or had until former majority owner Mark Cuban seemingly brought gasoline and matches to a podcast interview that was released Tuesday. “When are we going to move on?” Kidd he asked a Dallas Morning News reporter during a brief one-on-one interview about 90 minutes before tipoff on Tuesday. “We have to move forward. We're focused on the present and the future and we've got an incredible opportunity to build.”