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The 10 worst front office moves by the Dallas Mavericks since 2000

By Cal Durrett

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 19: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban looks on during the first half of the NBA game at Footprint Center on October 19, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Mavericks 107-105. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 19: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban looks on during the first half of the NBA game at Footprint Center on October 19, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Mavericks 107-105. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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Tyson Chandler #6 of the Dallas Mavericks (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Tyson Chandler #6 of the Dallas Mavericks (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

Mavericks Worst Move #4: Letting Tyson Chandler leave

After finally getting over the hump and winning a championship in 2011, the Mavericks had a choice to make. They could do what most teams that won championships did: re-sign their key free agents. Or they could opt to let them leave. Cuban decided to go with the latter, and it quickly proved to be the wrong decision. Chandler, who helped transform the Mavs defense, was allowed to leave in free agency, and the Mavericks didn’t come close to repeating without him.

Instead, they were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Worse yet, the team began signing veterans to short-term deals to save cap space on the off chance that they could get a star to agree to come to Dallas. Resting your hopes on luring a star usually isn’t the right call, and while letting some of their key free agents leave might have been justifiable, moving on from Chandler wasn’t.

He joined the New York Knicks after agreeing to a reasonable four-year contract that paid him about $14.5 million a season and helped the Knicks to their best season in fifteen years. He also made his only all-star team and won Defensive Player of the Year. Meanwhile, the Mavericks replaced him internally with Brandon Haywood and Ian Mahinmi, then a rotating cast, before bringing Chandler back three seasons later.

Not surprisingly, they won 50 games again with Chandler in 2013–14, only to lose him again in free agency to the Phoenix Suns. Had they just kept him, Dallas might’ve not had an inconsistent run following their first championship.