Los Angeles hosts Dallas Thursday night on Prime following a week of speculation in both teams' front offices.
Luka Doncic has expressed acceptance of his year-old role with the Los Angeles Lakers, but that isn't stopping him from staying in touch with the connections grown from his time on the Dallas Mavericks.
Just after it was reported that Mark Cuban may be interested in buying back the Mavs from casino tycoons Patrick Dumont and Miriam Adelson, the Lakers star is rumored to be working with former Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson about purchasing a European professional team.
Not a part of the potential ownership group is Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki, according to the Hall of Famer's spokesperson Scott Tomlin.
Nelson's group is reportedly "closing in" on a franchise that will eventually be stationed in Rome as a member of NBA Europe. The former executive and son of legendary Mavs coach Don Nelson engineered Draft Day deals for both Nowitzki and Doncic when they began their playing careers in Dallas.
In other "expansion" news, the NBA's plans to meet about approving a two-team expansion to 32 franchises was met with a bombshell Mavericks report the minority owner Cuban potentially joining with a Dallas investor group to retake majority control of the Mavericks.
Dumont and Adelson have had little success in achieving their ultimate goal of lobbying Texas to legalize gambling, which would allow them to use the Mavs as a vessel to construct a Las Vegas-style arena/casino/resort in the DFW.
There is no traction in the legislature, so maybe the family would find more immediate success by selling the Mavs and making a pitch to aquire one of the expansion teams. Las Vegas and Seattle are widely regarded as the front-runner cities to receive a team if the decision to expand is made.
Amid all the speculation, the Mavericks and Lakers will cross paths once again on the court in Los Angeles on Thursday night, streaming live on Prime Video.
Dallas enters having lost their last eight games and burrowing near the bottom of the West standings. Los Angeles, 32-21 on the year, is fifth in the conference.
Doncic continues to lead the league in scoring at 32.8 points per game. He scored 33 in his most recent meeting with his former team on Jan. 24, a 116-110 Lakers win at American Airlines Center.
Since that game, the Mavs have fully transitioned the roster emphasis on 19-year-old rookie Cooper Flagg by trading Anthony Davis, headlining return in the swap for Doncic, on Feb. 4.
In the Mavericks' three games since Davis was traded, Flagg is averaging 27.3 points and 6.3 rebounds a night.
Last game, however, he totaled just 14 points as Dallas got down by 20 points in the first quarter to the Phoenix Suns. The Mavs fought their way back, but would fall 120-111. Their last win was back on Jan. 22 over the Golden State Warriors at home.
Los Angeles enters the primetime broadcast having just felt the brunt of Victor Wembanyama's dominance and the 7-4 monster posted 40 points in 26 minutes to help the San Antonio Spurs to a 136-108 win over the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena.
Downtown LA will spotlight the Mavs and Lakers at 9 p.m. CST, 7 p.m. PST on Prime Video.