By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Criticism on the decision of the Dallas Mavericks to trade away Luka Doncic previously included Mark Cuban over recent weeks, but the former principal owner of the franchise and current minority owner resurfaced his opinion, stressing that the Mavs should have at least received a larger return for the Slovenian sensation.
“From a basketball perspective, I hear about it after the fact,” the 66-year-old businessman said during an interview with Dallas news outlet WFAA on Thursday, confirming he is no longer part of the decision-making at the Mavericks, “I don’t hear about anything beforehand.”
Trading Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers on February 2, the compensation went into Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a first-round pick in the 2029 NBA draft, while German Maxi Kleber and Markief Morris followed the Slovenian combo guard from Dallas to Los Angeles.
“If the Mavs are going to trade Luka, that’s one thing,” mentioned Cuban, “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.”
“I’m not going to go there,” he added replying to a question on whether he would have agreed to such a deal, “It doesn’t even matter.”
Since the blockbuster trade, the native of the Slovenian capital Ljubljana helped the Lakers rise to second place in the Western Conference standings with 23.8 points per contest over ten appearances in the 2024-25 Regular Season.
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