Before NBA Champion and All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving came to Dallas, the Mavericks had settled for two first-round exits and a Western Conference Finals appearance.
Then, in 2023, a blockbuster trade that involved sending Irving from Brooklyn to Dallas completely changed the Mavs’ trajectory, turning their once near misses into actual chances of ending their championship drought.
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It was the perfect moment for Dallas to acquire such a talent, as superstar Luka Doncic was just hitting his peak. Since he was drafted by Dallas in 2018, the young Slovenian star has been asked to fill the shoes of legendary Dirk Nowitzki.
Most would praise former Dallas owner Mark Cuban‘s front office genius behind this trade. Still, in an interview with Semafor, the businessman stressed that he had to give credit where it was due and to none other than popular NBA insider and ESPN reporter Shams Charania.
“On my end, it was Shams,” Cuban said. “Shams was my guy. He would know. I would tell him.”
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Shams dropped the bomb
Then working for The Athletic, Charania broke the news of Irving’s trade on Feb. 2, 2023. Dallas received Irving, while the Nets got Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a first-round and multiple second-round picks.
Little did everybody know that Charania’s journalistic diligence helped Cuban arrive at the right decision, which was made easier thanks to his good working relationship with the reporter.
This relationship involved mutual exchanges of information that equipped Charania with the details for his stories and Cuban with the inside info that gave him an edge over his competitors and rival owners during free agency.
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“‘I can’t give you details, but I’ll give you something else at some point in the future.'” Cuban explained. “The flip side of it was, he would help educate me about other things happening around the league. So, we had a great relationship.”
“He knew when not to ask, and I knew when not to ask about other teams because he wouldn’t tell me. But there was certain things he would tell me as it related to players and what their interests were,” he added.
Cuban added that Charania also had a tight relationship with Irving’s agent and stepmother, Shetellia Riley Irving, further easing the trade process.
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“He was a big help with us getting Kyrie when we traded for Kyrie. And for us extending him when we extended, because he had a great relationship with Kyrie’s agent,” he said.
Mavs reap benefits immediately
Of course, the trade was exactly what the Mavs needed during the 2023-2024 NBA season. They were coming off a disappointing 11th-place finish and a 38-44 record, and Luka’s brilliance was being wasted.
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Then in came Irving with his own magic and bag, adding the perfect backcourt partner for Doncic and giving the Mavericks the floor general they badly needed. Kai averaged 25.6 points, 5.2 assists, and 5.0 rebounds, pairing well with Doncic’s 33.9 points, 9.8 assists, and 9.2 boards en route to the fifth-best record in the regular season (50-32).
In the post-season, the Mavericks barreled through the Los Angeles Clippers (4-2), Oklahoma City Thunder (4-2), and the Minnesota Timberwolves (4-1), securing their first finals appearance since 2011, when Nowitzki led the team to a title.
Although Dallas fell short, Irving’s arrival signaled the dawn of a new era. In June, Irving declined his player option and signed a three-year extension with the team worth $119 million. Now, with Doncic chasing rings in Los Angeles, Irving has a different challenge ahead — trying to keep the Mavericks relevant alongside Anthony Davis in a reshaped NBA landscape.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.