“Don’t know if he was flat lying” - Tim McMahon raises eyebrows at Mark Cuban claiming Mavericks killing ‘gentlemen’s agreement’

Tim McMahon featured the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban and others in his book “The Wonder Boy: Luka Doncic and the Curse of Greatness.” The work encompasses the Mavericks’ bid to win the championship behind the Slovenian before the shocking trade in early February. McMahon digs into events that shaped the franchise that led to the team swapping Doncic for Anthony Davis.

In the Locked on Mavericks podcast, host Nick Angstadt asked the ESPN reporter when the team no longer had Doncic on top of its importance. The NBA insider answered:

“If you want to pinpoint a precise time when it was no longer the top organizational priority, you’d have to go back when Mark Cuban sold majority control of the team. … Cuban has had some online back-and-forth and made some comments basically implying that a gentleman’s agreement wasn’t held up by Patrick Dumont.

“I don’t know if that’s true. I don’t know if he’s flat-lying. I don’t know if he was trying to speak something into existence.”

McMahon added that once Mark Cuban sold his majority share to a group led by Dumont, the Shark Tank advisor lost control of the team. When Cuban divested his ownership in December 2023, reports came out that he would still head basketball operations. Dumont ended up giving that role to GM Nico Harrison, who engineered the trade that sent Luka Doncic to the LA Lakers for Anthony Davis.

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Mark Cuban insisted he would not have traded Luka Doncic had he had control of the Dallas Mavericks

Most Dallas Mavericks fans called for GM Nico Harrison’s resignation following the shocking Luka Doncic trade. Many also wanted to know Mark Cuban’s thoughts and comments after his former prized superstar was forced out of the franchise.

Two weeks ago on Your Mom’s House, Cuban broke his silence and said:

(55:17 mark)

“If I had any influence, the trade wouldn’t happen. I was just as dumbfounded as everybody else. After I sold the Mavericks, the new owner Patrick Dumont decided that ‘OK, in Nico we trust.’ So, here we are.”

Cuban emphasized that he no longer had basketball control of the Mavericks and had not had that job for “a while.” The billionaire added that he had that position “initially” before Dumont changed his mind. Cuban claimed he is only a fan of the team now.

The Dallas Mavericks have been hammered by injuries to Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving and multiple key players. Grading the trade from the Mavs’ perspective will not happen until the team gets healthy. Meanwhile, the LA Lakers are thriving with Luka Doncic pairing up with LeBron James.

If Mark Cuban had his way, the speculations would not have happened because he would not have traded Luka Magic.