The Dallas Mavericks went from being out of the playoffs a year ago to contending for the Larry O'Brien trophy against the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals this season. However, the Mavericks had to contend with allegations of tanking at the tail end of their 2022-23 campaign. Now-minority owner Mark Cuban is clearing the air on the circumstances that surrounded the unpleasant ending to their season that may have cost the New York Knicks a high draft pick.
During the tail end of the 2022-23 season, the Mavericks had an opportunity to get one of the four spots for the Play-In Tournament and possibly earn a ticket into the NBA Playoffs. However, the Mavericks decided to sit out both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, among others, in the last two games.
The move may have cost the Mavericks a cool $750,000 fine from the NBA, but this gave the Mavericks a higher chance of keeping their 2023 pick, which eventually became the No. 10 pick. Had the pick landed outside the top 10, the Knicks would have received the draft pick as part of a 2019 trade that involved Kristaps Porzingis.
As a result, the Knicks will draft 24th overall via a pick from the Mavericks in the upcoming 2024 Draft, while also retaining their own 25th pick.
Another wrinkle in the move was the move by then-Maverick Jalen Brunson to sign a four-year, $104 million deal with the Knicks during the 2022 offseason. The NBA later found that the Knicks and Brunson were tampering due to negotiations taking place prior to the official negotiating period.
Mark Cuban clears tanking allegations, denies revenge on Knicks over Jalen Brunson tampering
Mark Cuban, in an article by the New York Post, denied that the late-season move to punt the season was an unintended measure of revenge against the Knicks for tampering in negotiations to get Jalen Brunson. “I’m not a revenge guy,” Cuban said.
“We never tanked anything,” the Mavericks minority owner said. “We just decided to play our younger players the last couple of games. But it’s [general manager] Nico Harrison's and mine's and [coach] Jason Kidd's job to make the tough decisions. Nobody who decides to rebuild effectively likes it. When you play your young players, it’s not always fun. So we just felt it was time to go young.”
The Mavericks traded the 10th overall pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder and slid down to 12th overall to select Dereck Lively II, who has become an integral part of the team's run to the finals.
“We made the decision 10 other teams made, right?” Cuban said. “We just made it a little bit later. Obviously it turned out well.”
Cuban fighting off perceptions over Mavericks' moves
Mark Cuban had fighting words over outside perceptions of moves the Mavericks made, which eventually succeeded and resulted in a Finals appearance.
“I don’t care. People give me s*** all the time,” he said. “You guys [the media] give me s*** all the time. Does it really matter? It’s like going on Twitter and expecting everybody to be nice to you. You know the game, you’ve been doing this forever. You’ve seen the ups and downs. A broken hand changes everything. I just try to enjoy the moment.”
Cuban also said he holds no grudges with Rick Brunson, the father of Jalen Brunson who took over the contract negotiations that led to the move to the Knicks.
“I got no problem with [Rick]. When we played you guys, I saw him and said, ‘Hi.' Shook his hand. What's done is done,” Cuban said. “You can’t hold grudges in this league. There's just like no point. The guy you hate is going to be your best player tomorrow.”
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