After the Luka Doncic trade, rumors swirled among fans that the Mavs ownership wanted to move the team to Las Vegas.
DALLAS — After the bombshell Luka Doncic trade shook the sports world, Dallas fans have been in their feelings — and in full conspiracy mode.
Post-trade, rumors swirled about the state of the franchise and why the Mavs made the deal in the first place. Among those rumors came the idea that Mavs ownership was trying to blow up the franchise and make a more seamless move of the team to Las Vegas.
Why? Mavs fans would say the Adelson family, who made their fortune in the casino business, wants to move the team to a place where gambling is legal and they can reap the rewards.
However, the Mavericks organization is dispelling those rumors, at least internally. WFAA confirmed that the Mavericks organization held an internal call on Monday addressing the hypothetical Sin City move but reiterated that there are no plans to move the team from North Texas.
Even further dismissing the rumors is this: We’ve since learned Mavericks GM Nico Harrison was the man who orchestrated and pulled the trigger on the trade.
Why the rumor spread
On top of owning the majority stake in the Mavs, Miriam Adelson is also the majority owner of the Las Vegas Sands Corp.
The family — through their Las Vegas Sands Corp. — has been pushing, unsuccessfully so far, for casinos to be able to legally operate in Texas. Mark Cuban openly has shared that same vision, even previously name-dropping Las Vegas Sands as a potential future partner for his interests in such operations.
Last week, Patrick Dumont, Adelson’s son-in-law and the official “governor” of the Mavericks, participated in the casino business’s quarterly earnings call with investors. The Mavericks did not come up, though he fielded a question about gambling’s future in Texas.
“We think Texas has a great potential as a market for our business – but there’s really nothing to report at this point,” Dumont said. “The session just began and we’ll see how it goes.”
Because of their desire to be in a city where gambling is legal and Texas’ overall aversion to legalizing gambling, fans put two and two together and disseminated the Las Vegas rumors.
Also fueling that fire: The NBA has been vocal about wanting a team in Vegas. Sin City has hosted the NBA Summer League and this season’s NBA Cup Championship. Plus, Commissioner Adam Silver has said it’s on a list of cities that the league views as expansion candidates. Even LeBron James has expressed interest in owning an NBA expansion team in Vegas.
Las Vegas has become infamous in other pro leagues for “stealing” franchises. In the past decade, Vegas snagged two pro teams from Oakland, California: The Athletics and the Raiders. Sin City now hosts pro teams across five leagues.
Of course, Vegas would open an NBA franchise with open arms as they have with the Raiders and Golden Knights, but at least for now, they’re not taking the Mavs from Dallas.
