“What do I need $3 billion for?”: Mark Cuban once shunned thought of selling Mavericks 7 years before $3.5 billion sale
Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks look like they were headed for a rebuild in 2016. The team was coming off a brutal playoff loss to the OKC Thunder in the first round. Cuban’s best player was 37-year-old Dirk Nowitzki who just played his 17th season. The Mavs’ supporting cast which had David Lee, JaVale McGee, Chandler Parsons and Wesley Matthews didn’t have an emerging potential.
The Mavericks’ though, didn’t go on a rebuild. They rode the losses despite Nowitzki becoming just a shell of his former legendary self. After the 2016 playoffs, they didn’t make the postseason until 2020, which was Luka Doncic’s first year as an All-Star.
Diehard Boston Celtics fan Bill Simmons had an interview with Mark Cuban. One of the topics that emerged was the possibility of selling the Mavericks for approximately $3 billion. Cuban didn’t hesitate with his reply (via hoopshall):
“What do I need $3 billion for?”
According to Simmons, the valuation for the Dallas Mavericks in 2016 was $1.4 billion. Amazingly, Mark Cuban wouldn’t even consider selling the franchise for more than half of that amount.
Seven years later, Cuban might have had more than enough opportunity to think about that conversation. Last week, he agreed to sell a majority stake in the Mavericks to the family of Miriam Adelson, the wife of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
Las Vegas Sands Corporation purchased the said stake. Patrick Dumont, the CEO of Sands, is the son-in-law of Adelson. Despite the sale, Cuban remains the kingpin in basketball decisions.
Mark Cuban did one better than what Bill Simmons asked him in 2016. He sold the majority stakes of the franchise for $3.5 billion and still retained his role in basketball operations. Cuban learned something in between those years and put it to good use.
Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks are playing much better than last season’s tail-end debacle
The Dallas Mavericks were in the top four in the Western Conference. Four weeks after the trade deadline, they dropped to 10th. They eventually failed to make the play-in when Cuban forced Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving to sit out the team’s last game against the Chicago Bulls.
The Mavericks were fined for that decision but Cuban insisted as they wanted to target someone in the draft. That player turned out to be rookie Dereck Lively II. The former Duke standout was just part of the billionaire’s plan to upgrade the roster.
Dallas acquired Grant Williams, Richaun Holmes and Seth Curry. They also retained some of their free agents to bolster the supporting cast around Luka Doncic. Time will tell if the moves were spot on. It’s still roughly two months into the season and the Mavs hold an 11-7 lead.