Lillard blazes his own trail … with little help

The Dallas Mavericks are expected to have cost themselves nine figures in revenue over the next few seasons due to the Luka Doncic trade, sources tell ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. Attendance has been down since the Doncic trade and so many fans canceled season tickets after the trade that the Mavericks offered limited refunds in attempts of generating some level of goodwill.

The Mavericks have also lost revenue opportunities due to decreasing merchandise sales and sponsors severing ties with the franchise after the Doncic trade.

For all the criticism the Mavericks have received for the Doncic trade from a basketball perspective, the business side of the deal has also been a negative for the franchise.

The Mavericks internally believed that a five-year, $345 million supermax contract extension that Doncic would become eligible for this offseason would be a poor investment.