Mark Cuban once called the shots for the Dallas Mavericks as the majority owner, but he had no say in one of the biggest decisions the team has ever made.

Per NBA insider Marc Stein, Cuban “urged” Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison not to trade Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers in return for Anthony Davis. According to Stein, Cuban’s pleading with Harrison came too late.

“By the time Cuban found out about the Luka-for-AD trade, it was too late,” Stein wrote. “[Patrick] Dumont never approached for advice. Sources say Cuban urged Harrison not to go ahead with the swap … only to find out that the deal had already been sealed with the Lakers by verbal handshake.”

Cuban owned the majority of the Mavericks organization from 2000 until November 2023, when he sold his 73 percent stake. When he sold the team, he did so with the belief that he could still be a part of decisions like that which sent Dončić to Los Angeles.

According to Stein, being out of the loop on the Dončić deal hurt Cuban.

“In truth he has clearly been stung, league sources say, by the lack of advance warning he had on the deal — yet another harsh signal that he has been pushed farther and farther away from the front office than he ever imagined after his very public belief at the time of the sale of the team in November 2023 that he would retain oversight of basketball operations,” Stein wrote.

Per Stein, Cuban was “forbidden this season by the NBA to take his customary seat behind the Mavericks’ bench at road games.” Cuban also told Stein in November that “he did not have the say-so over basketball matters that he anticipated when the sale was agreed to with the Adelson and Dumont families.”

The Mavericks trading Dončić to the Lakers last week was one of the most surprising moves in NBA history. While Dallas got an outstanding player and perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Davis, it costs the Mavs the face of their franchise who led them to the NBA Finals just one season ago.

The decision was understandably met with frustration by fans.