Mark Cuban reflects on botched draft day trade in 2020 preventing Tyrese Haliburton from potentially replacing Kyrie Irving alongside Luka Doncic
Mark Cuban recently dropped a bomb while reflecting on the 2020 NBA draft. At the time, Cuban and the Mavericks were fresh off a 43-win season that saw them compete in the infamous "NBA bubble."
Knowing that Luka Doncic would need more help to take the team to a championship level, Cuban had an idea: trade up in the 2020 draft and select Tyrese Haliburton with the third pick, pairing the young point guard with Luka Doncic to create a strong dynamic duo. As fate would have it, the deal would never come to fruition, leading to the Sacramento Kings selecting Haliburton with the 13th pick.
Fast forward to 2022, Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle parted ways with Mark Cuban and the Mavericks, joining the Indiana Pacers. In his first season with the team, the front office acquired Haliburton from the Sacramento Kings, fueling impressive growth from Haliburton ever since.
During a recent episode of The Pat Bev Pod, Cuban spoke about his desire to trade up and draft Tyrese Haliburton, and how things fell apart. In addition, he also touched on Carlisle's decision to acquire Haliburton once he landed in Indiana,
"Tyrese Haliburton. We did everything we could to trade up and get him. Did everything we could. Now obviously, Rick was our coach at the time. Rick goes to Indiana, what's the first deal he does?"
How drafting Tyrese Haliburton would have changed the future for Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks
Although Tyrese Haliburton has continued to thrive on the court since joining the Indiana Pacers, it's hard not to wonder, "What if?"
What if Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks had traded up in the 2020 draft to acquire Tyrese Haliburton and pair him with Luka Doncic?
In this section, we will explore the hypothetical.
In the short-term future, the pair would have started alongside one another, with Haliburton's playmaking opening up Doncic's game. In the long-term, the trade would have meant that the Mavericks likely would never have been in a position to trade for Kyrie Irving.
The deal that saw Kyrie Irving join the Dallas Mavericks was finalized in February to help Doncic. Despite the firepower that Irving brought to the table, the Mavericks gave up several assets in the trade.
In exchange for Irving and Markieff Morris, the Mavericks shipped Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a first-round pick, and two second-round picks. Although the latter may not be ongoing sore points for the Mavericks, the losses of Finney-Smith and Dinwiddie are impactful, to say the least.
With Haliburton earning All-Star honors last season, it's safe to say Mark Cuban still wishes he and the Mavericks could have drafted the young point guard.