Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he desperately tried to recruit LeBron James and his business manager, Maverick Carter, through a series of text messages after the July 1 start of free agency.

"Before he made his decision, what I told [James] ... and what I told Maverick was no team had ever blown up their team to ground zero -- well, I shouldn't use those words -- blown their team up of all of their core, and then added a couple of free agents and won a championship," Cuban said.

"It's always taken someone to come into a good team, make it better, and put it over the top. That's what I told him, and that's what I told Maverick."

Cuban had envisioned James playing with perennial All-Stars Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd and surrounding them with one of the league's deepest supporting casts.