Cuban: Mavs 'had a deal done' to acquire Pierce after 2007-08 season

After Paul Pierce revealed to Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix that he'd once pushed for a trade from the Boston Celtics to the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban added even more fuel to the what-if debates.

"It gets better," the Mavs owner tweeted at ClutchPoints' Mavs Nation account. "We had a deal done.

"We had a three-way trade done. All teams agreed to their part of the deal. When we get on the trade call, the third team killed the deal because they didn't know that a first was going to the Celtics. They chose not to do the deal at all."

Cuban didn't reveal the organization that got cold feet.

According to Sports Illustrated, Pierce's discontent with the Celtics was reaching its boiling point prior to the team's acquisition of fellow Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in 2007.

However, Cuban recalls the proposed deal was in the works following the Celtics' 2008 championship win, for which Pierce was voted Finals MVP.

The Celtics ultimately traded Pierce, along with Garnett, to the Brooklyn Nets in 2013.

Pierce is being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday.