Mark Cuban spent over 20 years making the Dallas Mavericks a championship-caliber team, but his departure in 2023 didn't go as planned. The billionaire who bought the team in 2000 now watches from afar as it falls apart.

Cuban expressed his thoughts about selling the Mavericks franchise during his appearance on a recent episode of the Intersections podcast. An X update from Basketball Forever highlighted the section where he "regretted" his decision due to a specific reason.

The update displayed Cuban saying, "I don't regret selling [the Mavericks side]. I regret who I sold to. I made a lot of mistakes in the process, and I'll leave it at that."

Cuban is clearly frustrated because he thought that selling the franchise for almost $3.5 billion to the Adelson Family would keep the competitive structure he had built over the past 23 years.

However, the Mavericks are currently standing at 24-51, which is the sixth-worst record in the league. This is because Cuban had no say in the trade of superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February 2025, which is widely seen as one of the worst trades in sports history. Cuban didn't find out about the deal until after it was done.

The fallout happened quickly. General manager Nico Harrison, who signed off on the Doncic trade with governor Patrick Dumont, was fired in November when Dallas was 3-8.

Cuban had been working behind the scenes to get Harrison fired, but even though he thought he would get his advisory role back, sources say that hasn't happened. He still retains 27% stake in the franchise, but that didn't give him any power.

Rookie Cooper Flagg, whom the Mavericks picked first after winning 1.8% of the lottery, is a real building block for the team.

But one promising player hasn't been able to stabilize a roster that burned through Anthony Davis in just 29 games before sending him to Washington in a salary dump move. This means that Dallas is more focused on their draft position in 2026 than on being competitive right now.

Mavericks Want Their Next GM to Build Around Cooper Flagg Under Jason Kidd's Vision

The Mavericks were looking for a General Manager, and even after months of looking, they haven't been able to find one.

Harrison's firing in November left a hole in the front office, and the team isn't just hiring anyone to fill it. The Mavericks are looking for a certain type of leader—someone who can work with Jason Kidd and build the team around Cooper Flagg.

Marc Stein of The Stein Line made that very clear. "League sources say that the Mavericks want Jason Kidd to continue to serve as prized rookie Cooper Flagg's coach and have to this point prioritized hiring a general manager who can partner with Kidd as well as provide a cogent vision for how the franchise builds around Flagg in the wake of the disastrous Luka Dončić-to-the-Lakers trade in February 2025," his story read.

There hasn't been much talk inside the organization about Kidd moving up to the front office. He just signed a multi-year extension. He has a 140-106 record in Dallas and led the team to the 2024 NBA Finals.

Dallas is currently trying to find a general manager who will respect Kidd's system and build a team around Flagg's generational talent. The Mavericks can't afford to make another mistake after the lottery miracle and the Doncic disaster.

Read more at Air Jordan Chronicles!

Written by

Utsav Gupta

Edited by

Souvik Roy