16 Players the Dallas Mavericks gave up on way too soon

1. Steve Nash

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban continues to regret letting Nash walk in free agency in 2004. Dallas acquired the future Hall of Famer in a 1998 draft night trade. It was the same night they landed Dirk Nowitzki, and the duo quickly became friends.

They pushed the Mavs out of a decade-long playoff drought and into contention. In their six years together, Dallas made the playoffs four times, including a trip to the conference finals in 2003. Nash and Nowitzki were both multiple-time All-Stars by 2004, but a first-round postseason exit at the hands of the Kings had the front office re-thinking the partnership.

Nash was approaching his 30th birthday, and the Dallas Mavericks decided against giving him a massive contract. The 6’3 guard responded by winning back-to-back MVP honors with the Suns. Nash made six more All-Star appearances and joined one of Dallas’ biggest rivals over the next half-decade.

It was a massive blunder by Cuban and the Mavericks' decision-makers. They thought Steve Nash was over the hill, but his best basketball was ahead. Keeping him and Dirk together will forever be one of the biggest what-ifs in franchise history.

The Dallas Mavericks are no strangers to making front-office mistakes. They overcame plenty to win the 2011 championship. Can they follow a similar path with Luka Doncic? Stay tuned to find out.

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