Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks shocked the NBA world during the 2018-19 season when the franchise traded for Kristaps Porzingis. The Mavs boss said that the trade was very similar to the Houston Rockets’ bold move of acquiring James Harden from the Oklahoma City Thunder before the start of the 2012-13 season.
“Very [shocked]. It happens in the NBA,” Mark Cuban told WFAN, via the New York Daily News.
“It’s like the James Harden trade. James Harden got traded from OKC to the Rockets and I’m like, ‘Damn, why didn’t we get that offered to us? Just one phone call and the Rockets said, ‘Yes.’ And this was our phone call.”
Harden has since become an MVP-level player for the Rockets. Cuban and the Mavs, however, don’t need Porzingis to be an MVP for them since the team has Luka Doncic. All KP has to do is play at an All-Star level for Dallas, and he’s very capable of doing that.
The seven-foot Latvian was averaging 19.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in his first season for the Mavs before games were suspended due due to the coronavirus crisis.
Dallas signed Porzingis to a five-year, $158.25 million contract in the summer of 2019. The Mavs are banking on the Unicorn to stay healthy and lead the franchise back to the promised land alongside Doncic. Dallas hasn’t won a playoff series since winning the 2011 championship over LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat.
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