Just when you thought the Dallas Mavericks couldn't get any more dysfunctional, the latest news surrounding the team is downright comical. According to NBA and Mavericks insider Marc Stein, an ownership group is attempting to recruit former owner Mark Cuban to try and buy back the team.
BREAKING: An unidentified Dallas investor group is interested in partnering with Mark Cuban to buy the Mavericks back from Patrick Dumont, @TheSteinLine has learned.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 9, 2026
A source close to Dumont told me “the family remains excited about the future of the franchise and the Cooper… pic.twitter.com/C1lCVwZt4X
Cuban owned the team for more than 20 years before selling his majority stake two years ago. Since then, they've been a disaster, with former GM Nico Harrison trading superstar Luka Doncic for the laughable return of Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and the first-round pick.
Davis was recently traded to the Washington Wizards for what amounts to future cap space, a first- and what could eventually end up being a second-round pick.
Considering that the Mavs don't control their first until 2031 after this year, they don't have a lot to work with other than Cooper Flagg. He is obviously their future, but they will be limited in the draft and aren't a free agent destination.
Even if Cuban were to buy the Mavs, he would have his work cut out for him. Remember, he was the owner during their longest stretch of success in franchise history.
They made the playoffs 11 straight years, went to the NBA Finals twice, and won a championship. However, it seems far-fetched that he would be able to purchase the Mavericks again.
Mark Cuban is unlikely to own the Dallas Mavericks again
Cuban sold his majority stake in the franchise for 2.1 billion and will likely have to pay that plus plenty more to regain control of the Mavs. He isn't hurting for cash, but that would assume that current owner Patrick Dumont wants to sell.
Dumont has given no indication that he would, and with expansion likely to be announced, it would seem to be a foolish time for him to want to do so.
Adding two teams would give existing owners a massive influx of cash, with each getting a share of the buy-in from the new owners. That could be just a couple of years away, giving Dumont even less incentive to sell the team.
Perhaps that's for the best. Obviously, the Doncic debacle was a disaster that set the franchise back years. But, with Flagg looking more and more like a teenage superstar, he has a blank canvas to work with.
And it's not like Cuban didn't have missteps—plenty of them—actually, he just threw money at the problem, and it eventually worked out. That won't work with this new collective bargaining agreement, and therefore, Cuban shouldn't seriously try to reobtain ownership of the Mavs.