When you saw Dirk Nowitzki and Co. win the NBA Championship 2011, the NBA fraternity couldn’t believe what they just saw. To many, it’s an underrated championship run because they didn’t have a strong team to contend for the title, one must say. But they finally did it and Mark Cuban lived his dream. For people, Cuban remains a smart entrepreneur who makes his investments after careful analysis. It came to light when he didn’t trade Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2013.

In the 2013 NBA draft, the Dallas Mavericks received the 13th pick, which was way before the Milwaukee Bucks. Notably, the Bucks had a pick positioned at 15. You don’t get to have Giannis Antetokounmpo in the draft every year and most people wondered if he could replace Dirk Nowitzki.

Think about it – the size, the physical abilities, and the presence inside. He would fit like a duck to water. Yet, The Flagrant Clips host Akaash Singh mentioned, “Don’t bring that up,” when the host Andrew Schulz asked Mark Cuban how he missed out on Giannis Antetokounmpo. You know they would have loved him seeing Mark Cuban’s face in the interview. But, let’s not jump to conclusions.

“If we had gotten Giannis, we wouldn’t have gotten Luka,” said Mark Cuban, who left him out to set the trade for Luka Doncic in 2018. Doncic earned a contract of $6.5 million when he signed for the Mavericks. Appearing on ‘The Flagrant Clips’, Cuban detailed his thinking about not trading Giannis. From the looks of it, he must have loved to have him on the team. Not a sly dig on Luka’s defense, by the way!

Yet, Mark Cuban detailed the thought process behind the snub of Giannis. “No, we had like number 13, like right outside the lottery but we also had cap room. We had Dirk, and Dirk was 34, give or take. Okay, so this is like Dirk’s end games right? And so, I wanted to get a free agent so that we could cook it.” 

Mark Cuban had qualms about picking Giannis Antetokounmpo up in the draft

With Dallas winning the NBA title in 2011, Cuban wanted to milk the last ounce of energy Dirk Nowitzki had in him. Yet, the San Antonio Spurs knocked them out in the playoffs as Tim Duncan and Co went on to win their 5th NBA title. The team drafted Kelly Olynyk, who made the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, but then traded him to the Boston Celtics for the rights to Lucas Nogueira and two future second-round picks. Yet, Mark Cuban remained unsure about Giannis back then.

With the scouting team looking at the reports day and night, the Dallas Mavericks received the draft rights for Shane Larkin. But, the player didn’t work out the way Mark Cuban and Co wanted after breaking his leg in the season. “Shane was cool, and we all liked him but we would just trade it down just to save money for cap room… Yeah, we would have picked him,” said Cuban. Cuban was skeptical of Giannis’ value after reviewing his game footage.

“I remember like looking at the tapes of Giannis and all we had were two VHS tapes of him playing in the sh**ty Little Greek League. You know, he got drafted what, 13, 14, 15?… So there’s 14 other teams that passed on him too,” said Cuban. After most teams passed on him, the Milwaukee Bucks got him in the 15th round, which led them to an NBA title in 2021.

As for the Mavericks, they have not won the NBA title since Dirk Nowitzki left in 2021. They hope Doncic and Co. could lead Dallas to a title victory. In that way, it won’t leave any regrets for Mark Cuban in not picking Giannis Antetokounmpo up!