Luka Doncic trade wouldn't have happened in Mark Cuban era

After the Mavericks shocked the NBA world by trading Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, Cuban confirmed to Dallas TV station WFAA that he had nothing to do with the trade. That's not a surprise, considering the affection Cuban had for the 25-year-old Slovenian guard. He once claimed he'd choose Doncic over his wife.

Back in 2020, Cuban claimed, "If I had to choose between my wife and keeping Luka on the Mavs, catch me at my lawyer's office preparing for a divorce." The bad news for Cuban is that Doncic is now a Laker. The good news is that he's still married.

Cuban may have been naive to think he could keep control of the Mavericks after selling to the Adelson family. That proved not to be the case soon after the sale, which contained no language guaranteeing Cuban to continue running basketball operations. Soon after the sale, Dallas general manager Nico Harrison began reporting to the team's new governor, Patrick Dumont, the son-in-law of Adelson family matriarch Miriam Adelson.

It's not the only indignity Cuban has suffered since selling a big chunk of his team. For the first 23 years owning the Mavericks, Cuban used to sit behind their bench at road games, where he could yell at the team and officials. He told Marc Stein in November that the NBA has forbidden him from sitting there, so Cuban only attends road games.

Cuban is down to a 27% stake in the Mavericks, and the Adelsons can buy another 20% from him in the next three years. It's a big drop in power for Cuban. First, he lost his seat. Now, he's lost his favorite player.