Report: Mark Cuban Working on Majority Ownership of Legends

Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, is reportedly in talks to become the majority owner of Mavs G-League affiliate, the Texas Legends (per @TheSteinLine). Only a few teams in the G-League are not owned or majority owned by their NBA affiliate.

According to Marc Stein, Mark Cuban has been in recent talks to acquire a majority ownership in the Texas Legends. The Legends have been the Mavericks G-League affiliate team since they first came around in 2010-11. Dallas has worked closely with the team, moving players back and forth between the two teams for many years.

This move may not seem significant on paper, but it is good to see that Dallas is investing time and resources in player development and scouting. Unlike other sports, mainly baseball, the best NBA players usually come straight from high school and become key parts of their NBA teams immediately. The minor-leagues are not nearly as emphasized in basketball as in baseball, but that does not make them irrelevant.

Many times every year, players are injured and trades are made that cause teams to scramble to put together an entire roster. Often, this means that teams utilize their G-League affiliate to bring players up to the team.

The Mavs are familiar with this as they have brought many players up from the Legends and previous minor league affiliates over the years. This deal should not be too surprising to people either as the focus on the G-League appears to be at an all-time high with the newly dubbed “G-League” and the addition of two-way contracts this year.

Mark Cuban is very invested in the Mavs and has been since the beginning. He will do whatever it takes to make this team better, and I believe that owning the Texas Legends will help towards doing that. Although the affects may not be immediately noticeable, this is a good move for the Mavericks.

Next: Ranking the NBA Rookies After the First Month

The Texas Legends have looked good so far this year and will continue to improve. Dallas has a lot of young talent in this league and they will be watched closely by Mark Cuban and the rest of the Mavericks front office.