Appearing on Patrick Beverley‘s podcast, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said Dallas did everything it could to trade up for Tyrese Haliburton in the 2020 draft (Twitter video link).
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reported last year that Dallas attempted to move up ahead of 2020’s draft in order to land Haliburton, offering the Knicks Jalen Brunson, the No. 18 overall pick (Josh Green) and the No. 31 overall pick (Tyrell Terry) for No. 8 overall that year. The Mavs were unable to find a taker, including the Knicks, who selected Obi Toppin at No. 8.
Interestingly, both Haliburton — who fell to Sacramento at No. 12 — and Toppin now play for the Pacers, while Brunson joined the Knicks in free agency last summer.
It’s noteworthy that Cuban essentially confirmed MacMahon’s report, and the fact that he specifically mentioned Haliburton by name means the Mavs could face a penalty for tampering. The NBA often hands out fines when team executives publicly express any sort of praise or fondness for a rival player.
Cuban also noted that Dallas was coached by Rick Carlisle in 2020, who rejoined the Pacers the following year after parting ways with Dallas. Indiana subsequently traded for Haliburton at the 2022 deadline — about eight months after Carlisle was hired.
An All-Star for the first time in 2022/23, Haliburton averaged 20.7 PPG, 10.4 APG, 3.4 RPG and 1.6 SPG on a stellar .490/.400/.871 shooting line in 56 games (33.6 MPG) for Indiana. The 23-year-old signed a five-year, rookie scale max extension with the Pacers this offseason, so he’s under contract until 2029 (the extension starts in ’24/25).
Haliburton and Brunson are currently competing for Team USA at the 2023 World Cup. Green is also at the World Cup playing for the Australian national team, which has clinched a spot in the 2024 Olympics. The Mavs reportedly opened rookie scale extension talks with the 22-year-old wing a couple weeks ago.
Not so sure that is tampering when talking about something in 2020.
There is no harm done then by talking about it now.
Would seem odd to make a claim that something was coded in that message and would impact some other team interests.
Cubes should tamper his way onto some ex spurs scouts
Cuban just making lame excuses on why the Mavs never improve. That draft nobody was moving picks because there was not much in offers coming into teams.
Luka and Brunson will be together again in MSG
Like Lebron, Kobe, and a whole bunch of other stars that didn’t happen. Keep dreaming Knicks fan. Luka is smart. If he does leave it won’t be to Knicks.
Spurs could be the most logical landing spot if he left via FA. They could have a nice cheap squad by the time he reaches FA in 2027.
Like where will the NBA stars be in 4 years. Embiid, Jimmy, Bron, Steph, Kawhi/PG13, Giannis, KD will all be on the backside of their careers.
Still will have to contend with a near end of prime Joker/Murray, Tatum/Brown, Booker might be all alone. TBD if Shai, Zion, JA, Mitchell, Fox, or Haliburton can lead their respective teams anywhere in the playoffs. They could end up with good individual careers with no team success.
If he was going to pair with someone, Wemby could be that dude. He could also be a bust and it all be moot.
Don’t forget Shaq and MJ, who the Knicks both tried to sign in the same offseason once. That’s just funny to look back at.
Mark from Cuba just trying to save face…
Breaking News Mark Cuban says the Mavericks would have drafted Kobe, MJ, and Lebron if he was the owner
it’s stupid that owners can’t praise any players except their own. dumb, dumb rule. after what Cuban did last year he should be forced to sell his team.
Is it just me, or does anyone else find it pretty hard to believe that the Knicks wouldn’t have taken that package of Brunson and picks…??
Not really? Brunson was coming off a season averaging 8.2 ppg on subpar efficiency. He looked like a career backup at that point. Not a lot of added value to drop ten spots in the first.
If they Knicks had a crystal ball, they might’ve taken that deal, but they might also have just drafted Haliburton, lol.
Is it really that hard to believe that the Knicks did a stupid thing instead of a smart thing? I would have been more skeptical of a report suggesting they made the best possible decision.
Leon Rose seems to be doing a good job so far, but he took over only a couple months before the draft in 2020. So a 2020 draft decision would have been heavily influenced by the prior president (Steve Mills), who was not good at his job.
Rose liked Brunson coming in. Either DAL knew that in crafting this proposal, or Rose more generally inquired about Brunson and this was a response. Otherwise, nobody would offer so little for a trade up and have an expectation of it being accepted.
What team has traded #8 in any draft for #18, a SRP and a one position backup (which is all Brunson was after 2 seasons)-? If DAL were really that interested in Haliburton, maybe they should have considered a real offer to PHX or SAC who were actually shopping their picks; and think about including a future FRP for that kind of jump.