Mark Cuban Reveals Why Paul Pierce-to-Dallas Mavericks Trade Negotiations Failed

On a recent episode of ALL THE SMOKE, Mark Cuban revealed that Paul Pierce was nearly traded to the Dallas Mavericks some time after 2007. This hypothetical move would’ve broken up the Boston Celtics’ championship-winning trio of Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen.

According to Cuban, Pierce was going to be part of a three-way trade between the Celtics, Mavericks, and Atlanta Hawks.

“We were on the trade call for Paul Pierce,” said the Mavericks owner. “It wasn’t [2007]... It was later in his career. I forget which year it was, maybe [2009]. It was a three-way with Boston, Atlanta, and us. We had told Atlanta what the deal was going to be but we didn’t tell them it was with Boston.”

Cuban said that the Hawks requested a first-round draft pick, which led to trade negotiations dissolving.

“We get on the trade call and Atlanta says ‘no, you got to throw in a first-round’… we didn’t have another first [round pick] to throw in.”

Check out the full interview here.

Further Reading

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