Lol, blaming Cuban for this trade is so weak and stupid. I know the wound is still fresh, but come on, he never would have even shopped Luka. And no owner would expect the buyer of a new team to come in and trade the teams best player for a mediocre return. Could you imagine if the new Celtics owner sent Tatum to the Clippers for Kawhi? Nobody in their right mind would do that, but that's similar to what happened here.
I think this was a weird cost cutting measure by the new owners to avoid paying Luka a supermax, to reduce roster costs, avoid luxury tax and squeeze every penny possible out of this franchise. They are operating the team like a private equity firm that adopted the Pittsburgh Pirates management method, not an NBA fan or someone who cares about winning.
Whether or not it has something to do with influencing Texas politics on gambling is still TBD, but it might be a part of the decision process. Just 3 days after this trade several high level Texas politicians, including Governor Abbott advocated publicly for legalization of gambling in Texas. I don't know if that conspiracy is true, but the timing sure is an interesting coincidence.