The Dallas Mavericks secured Kyrie Irving back in 2023. Since joining Dallas, Kyrie has revitalized his career. In 2024, Irving led the Mavs to the NBA Finals, though ultimately they fell short to the Boston Celtics, who became the most successful NBA franchise after securing their 18th championship win.
Years later, Dallas’ minority owner, Cuban, admitted they received substantial assistance that made the process smoother. In a recent interview, the 67-year-old businessman discussed Shams Charania’s pivotal involvement in both the Mavericks’ acquisition and subsequent extension of Irving.
“On my end, it was Shams. Yeah, Shams was my guy. He would know. I would tell him, ‘I can’t give you details, but I’ll give you something else at some point in the future.’ But the flip side of it was he would help educate me about other things that were happening around the league. So we had a great relationship. You know, he knew when not to ask, and I knew when not to ask about other teams because he wouldn’t tell me,” Cuban said.
"Shams was my guy… he was a big help with us getting Kyrie [to the Mavs], when we traded for Kyrie [Irving]. And for us extending him when we extended, because he had a great relationship with Kyrie's agent."
– Mark Cuban
(via @semafor)pic.twitter.com/gp6pbuJMSI— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 20, 2025
“But there were certain things he would tell me that related to players and what their interests were. He was a big help with us getting Kyrie when we traded for Kyrie and for us extending him when we extended because he had a great relationship with Kyrie’s agent,” he added.
Mark Cuban Opens Up About The Failed Kobe Bryant And Paul Pierce Trade
Back in 2007, the Mavericks made a bold attempt to acquire Kobe Bryant. However, the deal fell through when the then-Lakers general manager, Mitch Kupchak, convinced Kobe to remain in Los Angeles. In the interview, Cuban recalled this missed opportunity of adding Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce.
“I thought we had traded for Kobe, and their general manager talked them out of it. A bunch of free agents that we thought we had, but didn’t happen. It’s just the nature of the beast. If you own a team long enough, you realize 99% of the trades you think you have done don’t get done. We had a trade for Paul Pierce, and it was done, and then you have to do this thing called a trade call, and it involved a third team. The third team didn’t know the details of the trade, and they said ‘If we’re gonna approve this, you have to give us another first-round pick,” Cuban said.
Now Irving, Anthony Davis, and Cooper Flagg are the stars of the Dallas team. With veteran experience and young players’ strength, the team is expected to make a serious push in the upcoming season.
