Mark Cuban ends one Mavericks legal battle, hints at another

Mark Cuban has dropped his legal petition against the Mavericks. That doesn’t mean he’s suddenly happy with the Mavericks.

According to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News, Cuban withdrew his Rule 202 petition against team governor Patrick Dumont late Monday. The case was dismissed without prejudice, and an arbitration hearing scheduled for Friday was canceled.

But if anyone thinks Cuban is walking away from the larger issue, his attorneys offered a pretty strong hint otherwise.

“Petitioners will now proceed to vindicate their rights,” Cuban’s legal team wrote.

In other words, this probably isn’t over.

Cuban filed the petition in July, accusing Dumont of “adversarial business practices” and seeking more information about the Mavericks’ plans for a new arena and entertainment district.

Much of the disagreement centers on the franchise’s option to purchase 104 acres at the former Valley View Mall site.

The Mavericks have said those plans remain exploratory. They also told the Morning News this week that they remain committed to the Valley View location while working through the usual issues involving zoning, financing and everything else that comes with trying to build an NBA arena.

Cuban’s attorneys say the petition did what they wanted it to do. During the process, they received information about Arena Development Intermediate, the subsidiary involved in the land agreements, including details about its ownership and relationship to the Mavericks.

So Cuban no longer needs the petition. What happens next is another question.

Remember, Cuban sold majority control of the Mavericks in 2023 but kept a minority stake. He also clearly hasn’t lost interest in how the franchise operates.

If anything, this little legal detour suggests the opposite.