During his 18-year career, Dwight Howard represented 7 different teams. His longest tenure was with the Orlando Magic, who selected him as the overall number 1 pick in the 2004 draft. But moving away from Orlando was a bold choice since the former champion felt that the environment was too “comfortable” for him. The 3x DPOY was on the radar of former Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban. But the trade never materialized, and the Dallas franchise missed out on the  ‘Greak Freak. Let’s find out how.

On Sirius XM NBA Radio, DH-12 joked, “Why wasn’t I aware [that I was almost a Dallas Maverick?]😆.” So, the host had to clarify that the Mavs’ front office, especially Cuban, was very high on trading for Dwight Howard. As per the previous reports, the team did not have enough cap space, and they traded down during the 2013 draft to make space for the six-foot-10 center. It resulted in them losing their 13th pick to the 16th to clear a little cap room, and Giannis Antetokounmpo went 15th to the Milwaukee Bucks.

But Dwight Howard denied his role in the failure of drafting the 2x MVP. “That’s not fair, that’s not fair to me. So you save money by getting Giannis because you were trying to get me two years later? That’s not right; no, you didn’t.” Later, the former Lakers star did clarify that there were negotiations, and the Mavs were his top 3 choice.

“We did have a conversation. I did speak about going to Dallas. At one point, it was between Dallas, Houston, and going back to the Lakers.” As per reports, Dwight Howard had 2 more suitors, apart from the previously mentioned three teams.

The Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks were in contention, but the 39-year-old chose the Rockets as his destination. Which the former majority owner called a “disappointment.”

Dwight Howard joins the list of what if stars in the tenure of Mark Cuban

The famous superstars whom Cuban tried to add to the franchise include Kobe Bryant. Even Shaquille O’Neal once tried his best to play for the Dallas franchise, but it failed, too. Once the former majority on Jalen Brunson’s The Roommates Show answered about the failed pursuit, which left him most disappointed. “Dwight Howard, for sure.”

The 66-year-old business mogul continued, “We wanted to get a big to be next to Dirk, and we had cap room finally because we never had cap room since the time I’d been there. We thought we had something worked out with him, and we actually traded down in the draft to get enough cap room and missed on the ‘Greek Freak,’ on Giannis [Antetokounmpo] because of it.”

Cuban took full responsibility for missing out on not only Dwight Howard but also the Milwaukee Bucks star. “It didn’t happen, and Giannis is Giannis.” The reported reason for Rockets being a suitable place for DH-12 was James Harden’s ability. Since The Beard was just 24 at the time, Howard felt forming a duo with him over Dirk Nowitzki would be the right reason.