Mark Cuban Reveals Biggest Free Agency Disappointment with Dallas Mavericks

There's one free agency decision that still haunts Cuban to this day

Oct 13, 2017; Charlotte, NC, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward center Dwight Howard (12) gets a rebound against Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) during the second half of the game at the Spectrum Center. Hornets win 111-96. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports / Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

Mark Cuban has always had a penchant for chasing big free agents. In the latter years of the Dirk Nowitzki era, he wanted to maximize the franchise's greatest player as much as possible, even if that often resulted in disappointment.

Cuban recently appeared on Jalen Brunson's "The Roommates Show" and was asked about his most disappointing free agency pursuit in his tenure with the Dallas Mavericks, a fitting question with Brunson leaving the Mavs in free agency two years ago.

"Dwight Howard, for sure," Cuban started. "We wanted to get a big to be next to Dirk and we had cap room finally because we never had cap room since the time I'd been there. We thought we had something worked out with him, and we actually traded down in the draft to get enough cap room and missed on the 'Greek Freak,' on Giannis [Antetokounmpo] because of it. Because there were a bunch of guys in our draft room that wanted to go with Giannis and it was on me, I was like 'Look, we've got Dirk, he's not 21 anymore, we need to try and get a center by him, because that's what we've always needed.' It didn't happen and Giannis is Giannis."

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Howard was a free agent in the 2013 offseason but chose to sign with the Houston Rockets instead to pair up with a young James Harden. He'd have his eighth consecutive All-Star selected in his first year with Houston but would never make another one, as back injuries robbed him of some of his elite athleticism. A prime Howard next to Dirk Nowitzki would've been incredible to watch though, as Howard won three straight Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Instead of signing Howard, the Mavericks signed Monta Ellis, Samuel Dalembert, Wayne Ellington, and Jose Calderon that offseason.

Trading down in the 2013 NBA Draft was the real mistake. There were a lot of rumors at the time that Dallas wanted Giannis, who was an unknown and unfinished product from Greece, but they decided to trade down from the 13th pick to the 16th to clear a little cap room and Giannis went 15th to the Milwaukee Bucks. With him off the board, they traded down again to the 18th selection and ended up with Shane Larkin, who played in 48 games for the Mavs before he was traded to the Knicks to bring back Tyson Chandler.

Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo became a two-time MVP, the Defensive Player of the Year in 2019, and won a championship in 2021. There is even a timeline where the Mavs end up with Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic as Giannis took a few years to progress, not making an All-Star game until 2017. Dallas already had to trade up in the 2018 Draft to acquire Doncic and they could've done the same, albeit with a much bigger jump likely needed, to pair Doncic and Giannis together.

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