For years, this has mostly been true. Dallas chased and struck out on Deron Williams, Dwight Howard, etc. They did succeed in signing Chandler Parsons, and I don't care what you think about him now, but he was a very good player before the knee injuries ruined his career.
They also benefitted from Kevin Durant's signing with Golden State and nabbed a solid player in Harrison Barnes.
The best signing of Mark Cuban's tenure, other than Dirk re-upping each time he was free, was Tyson Chandler, who wasn't a big fish signing but became a key piece of the Mavs 2011 championship team.
But for the sake of an argument, I agree that Dallas hasn't been successful in getting a "premier" free agent to ever agree to sign with them. Fair?
So here we are once again. It's early June and the NBA Finals will be over in a week, meaning free agency is right around the corner (starts June 30th). Something is different this time around, however. The Mavs are in unfamiliar territory as they have not one, but two rising stars in tow in Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis.
With a projected salary cap space of around $30 million, and with the ability to get more ... (by renouncing the rights to their own free agents, stretch/waive Courtney Lee, trades, etc.) Dallas, once again, has the ability to go big fish shopping.
Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, and Klay Thompson are the biggest names on the market, in addition to several others including Jimmy Butler, Khris Middleton, Kemba Walker and Tobias Harris.
Former Boston Celtic and Radio.com insider, Brian Scalabrine, was asked about the Mavs free agent struggles on 105.3 The Fan Wednesday and didn't have an answer as to why big-name free agents don't consider Dallas.
"I have no idea. (It) Makes no sense to me. Dallas is a phenomenal city. Obviously, (they have) a phenomenal owner. They did right by Dirk. It makes no sense to me why Dallas is not in the conversation," he said on the Ben and Skin Show. "I'll tell you what, If I was a stud free agent ... If I'm Kevin Durant and I can join Porzingis and Doncic, I'm having that conversation for sure."
The Mavericks hope they get a chance to have that conversation with Durant, and aren't discouraged by their past failures as evident by Donnie Nelson's comments at the team's season-ending media day. Asked about the specifics of future Mavs targets, Donnie laid everything out so simply that everyone can understand.
"We like stars," Donnie grinned. "We like stars. And lots of them."
Maybe things change as we get closer to free agency, but Mavs fans aren't holding their breath.