Article by: Nick Lombardi
Things don't seem too good within the confines of American Airlines Center. It's a situation that seems to mirror another toxic relationship within another Texas based sports franchise. Haralabos Voulgaris is allegedly the NBA's version of the Houston Texans' Jack Easterby and nobody knew who he was until June 14th 2021.
The Mavericks once again fell to the Clippers in the first round of the NBA playoffs in series they led 2-0 and later 3-2. They failed to win a single game at home before losing in a crushing game 7 in Los Angeles. Many in the NBA world believed their offseason would be dominated by discussions surrounding what would happen to the suddenly awful contract of Kristaps Porzingis. Could the Mavericks fix him? Could they find a taker for the 7'3 guy who plays like he's 6'3? All of that seems like an afterthought now. Luka Doncic has a fractured relationship with the team, Rick Carlisle may be looking for another coaching job in the NBA, and Cuban has been desperately in damage control trying to flex tape is boat before it sinks.
This is far from the first scandal in Dallas. A story broke about the Mavericks back in 2018 about rampant sexual assault that had gone on for years under Cuban's watch. More than 200 interviews were conducted with current and past members of the Mavericks organization in order to highlight the perpetrators of these crimes. After all was said and done, nobody ended up in prison, but Cuban donated $10 million to various women's organizations. While this is not nearly as serious, the Mavericks have once again shown that they are a terrible organization.
Haralabos Voulgaris is an executive with the Mavericks and apparently very powerful in the organization. According to an article published in the Athletic on June 14th, several members of the Mavericks organization were aghast at Voulgaris attitude during the 2020 NBA draft. Supposedly Voulgaris refused to listen to anyone else's opinions on the team's draft selections and instead strongly suggested the team take Josh Green and/or Tyrell Terry. Clearly Cuban must hold his opinions in high regard if this report is true. Prior to being a member of the organization, Voulgaris was one of the biggest NBA bettors in the world. Regularly betting around $1,000,000 a day.
Voulgaris has not just frustrated other members of the front office, but perhaps Luka Doncic as well. Luka reportedly had a very explicit confrontation with Voulgaris earlier this season which stemmed from an already rocky relationship. The absolute last thing Cuban can do is alienate Luka. He is already a top 10 player in the NBA at just 22 years old. There's a great chance that Luka develops into the consensus best player in the world with his ridiculous ability to control just about every aspect of an NBA offense. It's Cuban's job to make sure this guy is happy. At the very least, the Mavs have another year on his rookie deal and restricted free agency rights, but an angry superstar is still a superstar that can demand a trade.
As you can see, there are a lot of giant question marks surrounding the Mavericks this upcoming offseason. Whatever they do, the Mavs better keep Luka Doncic happy. Losing a potential generation defining talent is the kind of thing that can destroy an organization both from an internal and external standpoint.