(Patrick Dumont and Mark Cuban via the Dallas Mavericks)
The Dallas Mavericks can’t stop making headlines. First was the Luka Doncic trade, which came in the middle of the night, less than one year removed from the team’s run to the NBA Finals. Then, Dallas fired its general manager who made that deal, Nico Harrison, and shipped off the marquee player it got in return, Anthony Davis, to the Wizards. Now, former owner Mark Cuban might be having seller’s remorse.
A fascinating story popped up this week when NBA insider Marc Stein reported that a Dallas-based investor group is interested in partnering with billionaire Mark Cuban to repurchase the Mavericks from Governor Patrick Dumont and the Adelson family.
A source close to Dumont denied the report, telling Stein, “The family remains excited about the future of the franchise and the Cooper Flagg era.” And while I would normally agree that it’s unlikely an NBA team valued at $5 billion would trade hands twice in just 2+ years, the timing of this report feels suspiciously intentional.
Most of what you’ll read online is that neither the Dumont/Adelson families nor Cuban is happy with how the deal has gone. The former underestimated the backlash it would face for trading Doncic, while the latter feels he was boxed out after the Mavs reneged on an agreement that allowed Cuban to run basketball operations post-sale.
But that’s not why the Adelson/Dumont families would sell. In fact, the real story is much more interesting. That’s because it involves a secret land deal that happened several months before the Mavericks were even sold, hundreds of lobbyists, more than $50 million in political contributions, and a tight timeline that is quickly running out.