The Mavericks on the short list of suitors for the basketball services of former All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, according to Shams Charania of the Athletic and Stadium.
“Kyrie Irving has several suitors involved Lakers, Sixers & Mavericks, keep an eye out in the next couple of weeks ” – @ShamsCharania
It might take a couple of weeks or more for nets trades to happen. https://t.co/y2jkNAEIYD
— Jeri Tsai (@JeriTsaiNets) July 3, 2022
The All-Star point guard has played over 600 games in his NBA career, averaging 23 points on 40% shooting (including an impressive 39% from distance), while dishing out just under six assists per game. He’s spent the past three seasons with the Brooklyn Nets and unfortunately played just 103 games due to a variety of reasons.
Kyrie Irving has to be one of the basketball players I’ve at least enjoyed having to hear about the last several years. After hitting the single biggest shot in NBA Finals history in Game 7 of 2016, he became more of an idea than a basketball player. He pushed his way out of Cleveland, chipped away at a steady Boston Celtics culture, and has worn out his welcome with the Brooklyn Nets. He seemingly reluctantly opted into the final year of his $37 million contract last week in order to figure out his next move while making a great deal of money.
With how this Dallas Maverick off season has gone, I’ve found myself coming around on the idea of Kyrie Irving as a basketball player. Now, understand at the moment I’m not thinking about the mechanics past the fact that any trade for Irving cannot involved future first round picks. The mercurial Irving has given the impression lately he’d prefer a reunion with Lebron James at one point or another, so trading for a 30 year old point guard with a weird injury history and giving picks when he can walk away just like Jalen Brunson did is not smart. That was a long paragraph for someone “not thinking about the mechanics of all this”.
The maddening part of the Kyrie Irving experience has not been the basketball element. He’s not as consistent as you’d like, but offensively he’s a wizard with the ball that he pairs with Luka Doncic about as well as anyone could. Defensively he’s bad, but that’s a gambit you hope the team can scheme around. He’s a top tier basketball talent, of that there’s no question. It’s just that literally everything else that surrounds Kyrie Irving comes with a sense of annoyance. Basketball might be his job but it’s clearly not his calling, in fact it seems to bore him. He has main character syndrome at all times and seemingly can’t help but make news.
But if the Mavericks could move off some longer contracts and have him as a rental for a year… I would not hate it at this point. Right now, the Mavericks have two players on the team I feel very good about their dribbling: Luka Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie. Everyone else gets the Stanley from the Office dribbing GIF. That skill is not a concern I have with Irving. He could really help! Heck, playing for Jason Kidd, he could really figure out some things!
And say it happens and Irving becomes a Maverick and it ends up the same way it’s been everywhere because he seems to be his own worst enemy? Well then I’d get to say I told you so to everyone because I haven’t cared for the player for years. Oh and the Mavericks might take a significant step back, end up in the lottery and draft Victor Wembanyama. A win-win all around.