12-19-2024, 06:38 PM
(12-19-2024, 06:22 PM)F Gump Wrote: Yes. Reading between the lines of the sale price, there was a mass of ongoing accumulated debt (which lowered the value of the franchise), and with elevated interest rates and more and more elevated payroll looming, it was going to get worse and worse. Mr Big Money had gotten in way over his head despite being a billionaire.
I don't think Adelson-Dumont really need him in their casino and real estate agenda for Dallas, and suspect his statements about his future involvement on that front were also exaggerated significantly, because he didn't want anyone looking too close at why the franchise was valued so low and why he was bailing out just as Luka Era was taking off (rather than letting it peak at a much higher value).
He's now a minority owner. That's all. (And that likely has a limited shelf life too). As such, he's just a behind the scenes guy with no real influence, just like all the minority/limited partners for other teams you never heard of. The NBA called him out already on sitting in places where the real owner has seating rights if they want to use them, and perhaps the media will eventually catch up.
I agree with all of this. I do.
But, I also agree with what Cuban has been saying, that the secret to running an NBA franchise that can spend like a big market team is to generate other sources of revenue and not just wait for the next TV deal. He might be (and probably is) saying it as means to mask his retreat, as you suggest, but I think it IS going to benefit the team to have this new governor, and not only because of the family's deeper pockets (although that, too).