In February 2025, one trade blindsided an entire fanbase. It triggered a wave of public backlash unlike anything the franchise had seen in years, and exposed how little say the team’s most recognizable face still had in how it was being run. That trade, sending Luka Doncic to the Lakers, turned out to be only the first crack in a much larger fracture between former Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban and governor Patrick Dumont.

Cuban filed a Rule 202 petition against Dumont on July 6, seeking information he believes could prove the Mavs governor unlawfully cut him out of a major real estate opportunity. According to Ben Horney of Front Office Sports, the heavily redacted petition alleges Dumont “had an obligation to keep Cuban apprised of the potential purchase of about 104 acres at the former Valley View Mall site in Dallas,” a property the Mavericks confirmed in June they had entered option agreements to purchase for a future arena.

Mark Cuban sold his majority stake in the Mavericks to the Adelson family and Dumont in late 2023. It was a deal that valued the franchise at roughly $3.5 billion, while he retained a 27% ownership interest.

At the time, Cuban said he expected an informal understanding to continue. He would oversee basketball operations while Dumont ran the franchise’s business side, including real estate. That arrangement, according to Cuban’s own filing, never held up.

The petition cited an exchange in which Dumont allegedly told Cuban, “Why would I give you control of a $4 billion asset?” after installing Nico Harrison as general manager instead of leaving basketball decisions in Cuban’s hands.

The relationship deteriorated further when Harrison orchestrated Doncic’s trade to the Lakers in February 2025. A move that triggered fierce backlash from Mavericks fans and was widely seen as a decision Cuban had no real role in preventing.

Harrison was fired in November 2025 following a 3-8 start to the season and continued fallout from the trade. Dumont has since rebuilt the front office around Masai Ujiri as president and Mike Schmitz as general manager, with rookie Cooper Flagg meant to anchor a rebuild that, per multiple reports, no longer includes Cuban in any basketball decision-making.

Cuban’s petition centers on the Mavericks’ pursuit of a new arena and mixed-use entertainment district at the former Valley View Mall site, roughly 10 miles north of downtown Dallas, ahead of the team’s lease expiration at American Airlines Center in 2031.

Cuban claims his companies are “contractually entitled to participate” in the development, and that Dumont formed a Delaware-incorporated entity called Arena Development Intermediate (ADI) specifically to pursue the deal without triggering public disclosure requirements that a Texas-based entity would face.

According to the petition, Cuban was never notified of the Valley View opportunity despite what he claims are existing contractual rights associated with it.

His filing goes further, alleging that ADI’s non-disclosure “is consistent with Dumont’s adversarial business practices and history of failing to uphold his end of the bargain,” and points to a separate lawsuit Dumont filed against the NHL’s Dallas Stars over an unrelated arena dispute as evidence of a broader pattern.

Dumont’s Response to Cuban’s Petition

Dumont pushed back in a July 31 filing that was also heavily redacted and moved the case from the Texas state court to the Texas business court.

According to Horney’s reporting, the filing states that ADI “has not yet exercised its option to purchase the property,” and directly addresses Cuban’s demands. “Nevertheless, Mr. Cuban has demanded that he be involved in the option process,” the filing reads.

“Because of the nature of the Valley View Option, there is no current business opportunity to present to Mr. Cuban or petitioners. This fact has been communicated to Mr. Cuban.”

Dumont’s camp argued there’s nothing to disclose yet, since the option hasn’t been exercised, a direct rebuttal to the core premise of Cuban’s petition.

Where Things Stand

Neither side has filed an actual lawsuit at this stage, and both filings remain largely redacted. Limiting how much of the underlying financial and contractual detail is publicly known.

But the dispute marks a clear escalation in a relationship that has been deteriorating since the Doncic trade. It now touches nearly every major decision shaping the Mavericks’ future, from who controls basketball operations to who profits from the team’s next home.

With the Valley View option still unexercised and the case now sitting in business court, the fight over Dallas’s next arena appears far from resolved. And it is likely to become a defining test of how much influence Cuban has left over the franchise he built.