Flashback: How Mark Cuban thwarted Adrian Wojnarowski during 2017 NBA draft

Anyone interested in the NBA draft, and NBA news in general, knows to follow Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports’ “The Vertical” on Twitter. [Wojnarowski would later write for ESPN before retiring from journalism on Wednesday.]

You know, the guy who on Thursday night consistently tweeted teams' intended draft picks well before they were officially made. In many cases, ol' Woj's Twitter timeline was one, two, even three picks ahead of NBA commissioner Adam Silver's official announcements.

Except in the Mavericks’ case.

Dallas owner Mark Cuban often points out to us how airtight his franchise has been over the years when it comes to revealing news before he wants the world to hear it. And Cuban took no chances when it came to Thursday’s selection of Dennis Smith Jr. with the No. 9 overall pick.

On Friday, after Smith’s introductory news conference to Dallas media, Cuban laughed while detailing the Mavs’ draft-room scene to Smith’s agents, Glenn Schwartzman and Kim Grillier of Paramount Sports & Entertainment.

“The closer it gets to the [No. 9] pick, the more tense it became,” Cuban said.

"I said, 'OK, two things. One, when I'm on the phone, everybody shut up. Two, if this gets to Wojo before our pick, whoever we find out did it is fired.'"

A Mavericks front office staffer who was in the draft room at the time confirms that Cuban, in fact, told everyone to lay their phones on a conference table where everyone could see them.

"Mark said, 'OK, we're going to give Woj a pump fake,' " the staffer said. "Then he said, 'No one touches their phones or they're fired.' Coming from The Boss, you take it seriously."

Naturally, several of the phones rang and buzzed and vibrated with the usual draft night activity. Who knows? Maybe LeBron James' agent called the Mavericks during that interlude to work out a path for James to come to Dallas and be closer to his beloved Cowboys. OK, so that probably didn't happen, but the Mavericks definitely missed some calls and texts.

That was of no matter to Cuban. He said that when Wojnarowski tweeted that the Knicks were going to select Frank Ntilikina at No. 8, several staff members wanted to high-five because that ostensibly meant Dallas would get its man, Smith.

"I'm like, 'No,' " Cuban said. "Just because it's reported doesn't mean it's true. I've been in crazier situations.

"So we're waiting and waiting. When Adam Silver walks out, I'm like, 'OK.'"

When Silver announced the Knicks had indeed picked Ntilikina, that's when the room erupted in chest bumps and, according to coach Rick Carlisle, "thunderous applause."

Not because the Mavs had thwarted ol’ Woj, though that certainly was an accomplishment in itself. It was because they got the guy they wanted all along.

Find more Mavericks coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.