Former Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban was stung by the lack of advance warning he had on the Luka Doncic blockbuster and tried to talk GM Nico Harrison out of making the deal with the Lakers, Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack post.

Cuban had privately told Doncic that he wanted him to be the organization for as long as Dirk Nowitzki’s NBA-record 21 seasons with one team, according to Stein. However, by the time Cuban tried to convince Harrison and current majority owner Patrick Dumont to retain Doncic, the deal with the Lakers had already been verbally agreed upon.

It was an example of Cuban’s reduced role in the organization, despite the belief that he’d continue retain oversight of basketball operations when he sold his majority share.

Here’s more from Stein: