Mark Cuban Missed Massive Opportunity To Land Giannis Antetokounmpo Due to Mavs’ Failed Pursuit of NBA Hall of Famer

Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban had the chance to draft Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2013. Cuban appeared as a guest on Wednesday's episode of "Run Your Race." The Mavericks had the No. 13 pick that year and used it to draft Kelly Olynyk. Olynyk never played for them, as he was traded to the Boston Celtics.

That year, the team's rookie was Shane Larkin. Cuban explained that the Mavericks attempted to free up cap space to sign Dwight Howard. According to the owner, some of the team's scouts wanted to use their pick on Antetokounmpo. Even their general manager at the time, Don Nelson, was interested in the Greek Freak.

However, Cuban said they only had two tapes of the young forward and couldn't pass up the opportunity to sign Howard.

“That was the year we tried to get up cap room for Dwight Howard,” Cuban said (Timestamp: 56:23). “And to get cap room for Dwight Howard, we had to trade down a couple times. Some of our scouts and GM wanted to pick Giannis, and I was like, ‘I can’t do that to Dirk, we got a plan.'”

“War room, all we had was two VHS cassettes of Giannis, that was it,” he said. “Because he played in this B league in Greece, there was no other video. And I’m like, ‘You want me to give up on getting Dwight Howard and trying to get back [to the Finals]?'”

Mark Cuban wasn't the only one who didn't know Antetokounmpo would turn into an MVP in the NBA. The Milwaukee Bucks took a chance on the forward, and he developed into one of the league's best players.

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Mark Cuban said that the Luka Doncic trade reminded him of his blunder with Steve Nash

The Luka Doncic trade continues to haunt the Mavericks. Many still have not moved on from the organization giving up on a five-time All-Star who led the team to the NBA Finals the year before.

During Mark Cuban's guest appearance on Theo Pinson's podcast, he said the Doncic trade reminded him of his past mistake with Steve Nash.

“Maybe it’ll be his Steve Nash, and Luka will go on to win two MVPs, I don’t know,” Mark Cuban added. “After we traded Nash we went to the Finals, then we won that Finals. As long as it turns out that way, I don’t care. I love Luka to death, I love his team, I love the people around him.”

The businessman said that although he isn't happy with Harrison's decision, he respects it. Cuban said he believes the former Mavericks executive did what he thought was best. But now, they are left to fix the aftermath of the trade.