Mavericks owner Mark Cuban blames “miscommunication” for a failed trade that would have helped Jimmy Butler get to Miami, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
Dallas attempted to get involved with the sign-and-trade on June 30 shortly after Butler reached an agreement with the Heat. The reported deal would have sent Goran Dragic to the Mavericks, although several media outlets later claimed Dallas believed it was getting Kelly Olynyk and Derrick Jones Jr. Miami would have needed to include another player to make that deal work financially and wasn’t interested in parting with Jones, according to Jackson.
“As far as we can tell, it was just miscommunication,” Cuban stated in an email. “… We get along great with the Heat and have done many deals with them. Wires just got crossed somehow.”
Cuban added that his team respects Dragic, but had plans for its cap space that would have been affected by taking on his $19.2MM salary. The Mavs believe they have addressed their point guard needs by acquiring Delon Wright on a three-year, $29MM deal in a sign-and-trade with the Grizzlies.
“I was sitting in the room full of people when the call was discussed and we put the trade we thought was happening on our board,” Cuban explained of the misunderstanding with Miami. “We later discussed trade kickers and added a player to make it work. They obviously thought they heard something else.”
The Heat eventually acquired Butler in a four-team deal involving the Sixers, Trail Blazers and Clippers.
After the original trade collapsed, the Heat told Dragic’s representatives they would try to trade him to complete the Butler deal. However, that need disappeared when Portland offered to take Hassan Whiteside‘s hefty salary, and Dragic’s camp was informed that he will remain with the team “barring something unforeseen.” Heat officials haven’t commented on their negotiations with Dallas.
I’ve still been wondering… what does Dragic think/feel about this whole situation? Like is he just brushing it off as “the business side of things” knowing it was all, at least initially, being driven by cap $ – or is he taking it at least somewhat personally that the Heat were essentially trying to dump him any way they could to clear the $ for Butler!? Like now that he’s still on the team – it’ll just be interesting to see how he reacts going forward. Maybe it’s a whole lot of nothing… but it’s possible that “hurt feelings/egos” could wind up being an issue this season and going forward. Who knows? If anyone has read anything more direct from Dragic or whatever I’d be glad to hear your responses/info on the situation!!
I don’t think the Heat were necessarily trying to dump him. I think they were trying to trade him but also worked with him to send him to a team like Dallas where he could play with his buddy Luka.
Gd pt, they’re both from Slovenia. That pairing would have generated quite some interest back home!
Mr. Cuban: you don’t have Riley phone number.
Pick up the phone. You both speak clearly…eliminate miscommunication!
Ah, those mysterious vouces!