Mark Cuban reveals Paul Pierce was almost traded to the Mavericks

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban revealed that he almost acquired Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce.

Paul Pierce, who is set to be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend, spent the majority of his 19-year career with the Boston Celtics, the team who drafted him and the organization he helped win the NBA championship in 2008. As it turns out, Pierce’s stint in Boston could have been shorter had things gone the Dallas Mavericks’ way.

In a cover story for Sports Illustrated, Chris Mannix wrote that Pierce had approached Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in the spring of 2007 and told him that he was his “missing piece.” Cuban himself confirmed the story in a tweet on Tuesday, saying that a three-way trade was in place, but the third team dropped out after discovering that the Celtics were receiving a first-round draft pick.

Mark Cuban confirms that Paul Pierce was almost traded to the Mavericks

If this trade had gone through, who knows what could have happened. Could the Mavericks have more Larry O’Brien trophies in Cuban’s display case? We will never know.

Cuban later clarified in a responding tweet that the trade offer was made after the 2008 season. So, the Celtics 17th NBA title still would have happened, as were the acquisitions of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in the summer of 2007.

As for the Mavericks, they did end up winning an NBA championship after the failed trade. At the conclusion of the 2010-11 season, the Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat “Big Three” of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in six games.

Through his 15-years with the Celtics, Pierce averaged 21.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists while accumulating a field goal percentage of 44.7 and a three-point percentage of 37.0.

With this bombshell confirmation by Cuban, now everyone will want to know who the third team was that nixed the trade.