Mark Cuban confirms the dark truth Mavericks fans feared about the Luka Doncic trade

Mark Cuban just confirmed part of the Luka Doncic trade that Dallas Mavericks fans have been bickering over since it happened, that being that Jason Kidd was supportive of Nico Harrison's decision to trade Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Cuban took to the "Intersections Podcast" to talk business, but talked about the Mavericks later in the episode, as he typically does in podcast appearances, and he completely threw Kidd under the bus.

“That doesn’t justify it for our coach and general manager to stand up and trade our best player," Cuban told the hosts of the podcasts in regard to Kidd wanting Anthony Davis because of his longstanding relationship with Davis. As aforementioned, some Mavericks fans thought there was no way Kidd was in on the Doncic trade considering his denial to the media, but skeptics didn't buy this considering how close Kidd and Harrison were, as Cuban just confirmed this dark truth.

When asked about his involvement in the Doncic trade by the Dallas Morning News, Kidd didn't get into any specifics, mostly deflecting by talking about Dallas' future and that he didn't want to get involved in a dispute between two owners (Cuban and Patrick Dumont).

Cuban confirmed Kidd knew about the Doncic trade beforehand

Kidd had repeatedly told the media he didn't learn about the trade till the eleventh hour, but this small quote from Cuban makes it seem like he was a co-conspirator with Harrison on the trade, as well as the fact that he was insensitive to Mavericks fans in the immediate aftermath of the trade.

It's well known that Kidd has a great relationship with Davis, especially after winning a championship together in 2020 when Kidd was an assistant coach on the Lakers. Given this, it wasn't just Harrison's pre-existing relationship with Davis that was a defining factor in the Doncic trade, but Kidd's probably was as well.

It's disheartening for Mavericks fans to see that Kidd was involved in the Doncic trade, especially since he's helped keep the team together through tremendous adversity ever since the trade, but some of that adversity was self-inflicted. It's hard to know exactly what went down behind the scenes without the intimate details, but it still seems likely that the Doncic trade was Harrison's initial idea.

Why this revelation damages Kidd's credibility in Dallas

However, it seems like Kidd clearly didn't have much of a rebuttal to the idea of trading Doncic for Davis, which makes his involvement in roster decisions seem extremely questionable going forward. There's no doubt Kidd has molded himself into a good coach in Dallas, as the 2024 team he took to the NBA Finals was the fifth seed in the West before the playoffs started, and he's milked more out of Dallas' current roster than a lot of other coaches could've.

Ultimately, though, Kidd will lose the trust of some fans because of Cuban revealing this detail, whether Cuban is giving the full truth or not. This coming out doesn't mean Kidd should be fired or ostracized from the Mavericks, but perhaps he shouldn't have as much involvement in the decision-making aspects of the roster going forward, though this likely won't happen.