Mark Cuban Passed on Giannis Antetokounmpo to Support Dirk Nowitzki

Mark Cuban could have paired Dirk Nowitzki with Giannis Antetokounmpo two years after Dirk led the Dallas mavericks to the first championship in franchise history. Not only that, he could have allowed Dirk to play with his successor for much longer, paving the way for a smooth transition of power.

However, Cuban felt, and he was correct, that Giannis wouldn’t be ready right away. With Dirk already 35 years old at the time, Mark promised to get his franchise superstar immediate help so that he could at least try to win another title.

“That was the year we tried to get cap room for Dwight Howard. And to get cap room for Dwight Howard, we had to trade down a couple of times, and 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,” said Cuban.

The Mavs traded down in the 2013 NBA draft

Putting Dwight Howard next to Dirk in the Dallas frontcourt would have been impressive and would have given Dirk the ability to focus solely on offense. However, to do that, the Mavs needed to clear cap space. And aside from moving veterans on the roster to reach that goal, they also traded down in the 2013 NBA draft, passing on Giannis, who was ultimately selected 15th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks.