Luka Dončić is currently in Spain, undergoing treatment for a Grade 2 hamstring strain, racing to return in time for the Lakers’ playoff run. Back in Dallas, the man who originally brought him to the NBA is reflecting on a decision that, at the time, carried far more uncertainty than history now suggests.
Mark Cuban, speaking on the “Club 520 Podcast,” opened up about the moment the Mavericks traded up to select Dončić, and why.
Why Mark Cuban Had Doubts About Drafting Luka Dončić
Cuban’s candor about the drafting process is striking, given how the story ended. Dončić had already won the EuroLeague MVP with Real Madrid at 19, becoming the youngest player in league history to do so. He was widely regarded as a generational European talent.
The Mavericks still gave up a pick to trade up and acquire him from Atlanta. And yet, Cuban admits the confidence was never absolute.
“We hoped. But we didn’t know. You never know,” Cuban said. “We knew he had a chance to be a starter and to be good because he was ballsy, man. He was fearless. And that’s half the battle.”
“But you still don’t know. I remember watching him play against OKC and him going right by Russ. But NBA versus Real Madrid, you don’t know how hard the guys are trying. There’s no preparation. The rules are different and all that. But I mean, we gave up a pick and traded up to get him.”
The turning point came in pieces. First, a preseason trip to China with two seasoned NBA veterans in tow.
“I was sitting with Shawn Marion and Stephen Jackson, and the whole game I’m like, ‘What do you think?’ Because I’m terrified, right? Because you don’t know,” Cuban said. “And they’re like, ‘Oh my god.'”
Then came the daily evidence of practice. “Guys in practice would say, and you’d watch him, every game he’d win as a rookie. And so you knew he was special. You just didn’t know how special.”
That final line carries the full weight of what followed. Dončić won Rookie of the Year and quickly established himself as a perennial MVP candidate. He then led Dallas to the 2024 NBA Finals, cementing his place among the game’s elite.
Yet none of it was enough to save him from a controversial trade to the Lakers in February 2025, a deal that cost general manager Nico Harrison his job and continues to define the franchise’s direction under Patrick Dumont.
The timing of Cuban’s reflections is layered.
Dončić is now one of the most dominant players in the league, averaging a league-best 33.5 points per game this season with the Lakers. He was in the middle of an MVP-caliber March with 37.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game during a 15-2 stretch. All this before the hamstring injury against Oklahoma City derailed everything.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks, who dealt him away, are now watching 19-year-old Cooper Flagg carry an otherwise bare roster on his own shoulders. The franchise that was not sure Dončić would even stick as a starter now finds itself rebuilding around the next potential generational talent.
