Mark Cuban rips Mavericks for Luka Dončić trade return: ‘Just get a better deal’

Former Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban had a few thoughts about the trade that sent the NBA in a frenzy.

On Feb. 1, Dallas sent All-NBA guard Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, guard Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick.

Davis, who has an adductor strain injury, has only played one game since the trade, and the Mavericks currently have a 32-30 record, which is good for 10th place in the Western Conference with 19 regular-season games remaining. The Lakers have won eight straight games and are the No. 2 seed in the West.

Cuban, who still owns a minority share in the team, has repeatedly said that he had nothing to do with the trade.

“If the Mavs are going to trade Luka, that’s one thing,” Cuban said to WFAA. “Just get a better deal. No disrespect to Anthony Davis, but I still firmly believe if we had gotten four unprotected No. 1s and Anthony Davis and Max Christie, this would be a different conversation.

When asked if he would have traded Dončić if he were still running the Mavericks’ day-to-day business, Cuban said, “I’m not going to go there. It doesn’t matter.”

Cuban said the team had a similar situation in 2004 when Steve Nash left in free agency after six seasons with the Mavericks.

I went through this before with when Steve Nash left and then won two MVPs. The good news is that we went to the Finals and won a championship,” Cuban said. “So I’ve been through something — but there wasn’t social media back then, so it wasn’t quite the same. You’re going to make mistakes. I think the biggest challenge the Mavs have right now is there’s nobody who’s really outgoing to communicate