In the seasons after the Mavericks’ 2011 title, the franchise remained determined to surround Dirk Nowitzki with the right talent to win another ring. During the 2013 trade deadline, Dallas had a deal lined up to bring Paul Pierce to town, though the trade was nixed by the Hawks, who were set to be the third team to help facilitate the deal.
“We were (close to trading for Pierce) and Atlanta killed it,” Cuban said (via the Heavy Live with Scoop B Show). “We had a three-way deal done with the Mavs, Celtics, and Atlanta and when Atlanta saw the other team, because you really don’t tell the other team (who) the third team (is), you just say we’re moving a player, when we got to the trade call, they killed it.”
The Mavericks had put together a package that would have saw Josh Smith head to Boston, Pierce to Dallas, and Jae Crowder, Brandan Wright, and Dahntay Jones to Atlanta, according to an archived article from Adrian Wojnarowski. The Hawks wanted the Celtics to pony up an additional first-rounder, apparently after finding out that it was Boston who was acquiring their at-the-time explosive forward.
The Celtics would send Pierce and Kevin Garnett in a package to Brooklyn for a variety of draft picks at the end of that season in what is considered one of the most lopsided deals in history. Imagine an NBA where Ainge doesn’t pull the plug on the Garnett-era, instead, pairing him with Smith and Brooklyn keeps its picks or routes them somewhere else (Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were among the prospects sent to Boston in the deal).
Cuban Looking Into The Future
Cuban spoke with Robinson about a variety topics, including his thoughts on a potential 2024 presidential run.
“Based on everything I know right now, no,” Cuban said. “But if things go south…and whether or not I thought I would be the right person…We’ve got time and there’s a whole lot of other people qualified out there too.”
