Kyrie Irving And Dallas Mavericks Might Be Stuck With One Another

The Dallas Mavericks’ acquisition of Kyrie Irving hasn’t gone quite as expected.

When the Mavericks traded for Irving ahead of the Feb. 9 NBA trade deadline, they had the sixth-best record in the Western Conference (28-26). Two months later, they’re sitting in 11th place (38-42) and are facing an uphill battle just
just
to make the play-in tournament.

Irving is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, which means the Mavericks might have traded Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and an unprotected 2029 first-round pick for a half-season rental. But despite their recent nosedive, Mavericks governor Mark Cuban told reporters Wednesday that he hoped to re-sign Irving.

“I’d love to have him stay for sure,” Cuban said, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “I’d love to have him. I want him to stay for sure, and I think we have a good shot. I think he’s happy here. He tells me he’s happy here, and I get along great with him. I think he’s a good guy. All I can tell you is everything I thought I knew about Kyrie because of everything I read was 100 percent wrong.”

Cuban might get his wish, mostly because it’s unclear whether any other team will be willing to make a hefty financial commitment to Irving in free agency.

The Brooklyn Nets offered Irving an extension with “guarantee stipulations” before trading him to the Mavericks, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, which was “not well received.” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Nets were “reluctant to rush into a long-term commitment without further evidence that Irving could stay reliable, perform at a high level and remain controversy-free.”

Controversy wound up defining Irving’s tenure in Brooklyn. He missed most of the Nets’ home games in the 2020-21 season because he refused to get a Covid-19 vaccine, and the Nets suspended him earlier this season because he shared an anti-Semitic film on social media and initially refused to apologize for it.

Irving hasn’t gotten into off-court trouble since arriving in Dallas, but the on-court results haven’t inspired much confidence. His individual numbers are impressive—he was averaging 26.7 points on 51.0 percent shooting, 5.9 assists and 5.1 rebounds in 19 games with Dallas heading into Wednesday—but the Mavericks have gone 9-16 since he made his debut on Feb. 8.

Fears about Irving clashing with Luka Doncic on offense have proved unfounded, even if the two haven’t quite maximized their potential on that end of the floor yet. The Mavericks have the NBA’s eighth-best offense since Irving’s debut, but they’re 26th in defensive rating.

“I don’t think offense is the problem,” Doncic told reporters Tuesday. “I’ve always said this. It’s our defensive end. I think anybody can score on us. Whoever it is, anybody can score on us.”

According to Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes, the Mavericks’ plan heading into the offseason is to surround Doncic and Irving with “versatile wing defenders and rim protectors to improve a defense that has been subpar.” However, if they re-sign Irving, they’ll likely be limited to only the non-taxpayer mid-level exception in free agency, and they owe their top-10-protected 2023 first-round pick to the New York Knicks.

Since significant personnel upgrades likely aren’t in the cards, the Mavericks might have to bank on internal improvement fueling a turnaround next season.

“The realistic view is that when I came here, that this was gonna be a growing process,” Irving said after the Mavericks’ loss to the Philadelphia 76ers at the end of March. “This is for the long term. This is for something that’s bigger than ourselves. We can’t just be a championship team overnight, especially me coming here. So I think I’ve wrapped my head around that aspect of is. I’m at peace with it.”

The Mavericks can offer Irving a two-year extension between now and June 30, but league sources told Haynes that he will “allow his future to be decided in free agency this summer.” Based on the $134 million salary-cap projection for next season, Irving will be eligible to sign up to a five-year, $272.0 million contract with the Mavericks or a four-year, $201.7 million contract with any other team in free agency.

It’s fair to wonder whether he’ll have any offers in that ballpark, though.

The Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic
magic
, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons are the only teams projected to have enough salary-cap space to sign Irving outright this summer, and all five are in rebuilding mode. The Los Angeles Lakers were tied to Irving prior to his trade to Dallas, but Jovan Buha of The Athletic reported in mid-March that they aren’t planning to pursue him this offseason. They’re more interested in running back the core that has fueled their late-season surge, per Buha.

If Irving isn’t interested in staying with the Mavericks, a sign-and-trade may be his best (only?) way out of Dallas. However, a number of championship contenders are already projected to be over next year’s luxury-tax apron (roughly $169 million), which means they’ll be prohibited from receiving players via a sign-and-trade.

The NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement could be Irving’s saving grace in that regard. Although it reportedly imposes harsh restrictions on teams that are more than $17.5 million above the luxury-tax threshold, according to Wojnarowski, it also includes “new spending and trade opportunities for teams at the middle and lower spectrum of payrolls, including larger trade exceptions.”

The full details of those spending and trade opportunities remain unclear for now, but they might give teams more financial flexibility to pull off sign-and-trades. The league’s luxury-tax brackets will also “increase at the same rate as the cap does” under the new CBA, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks, which might make fewer teams go above the apron and be prohibited from acquiring players in a sign-and-trade.

Still, it’s difficult to imagine a robust free-agent market for Irving unfolding given his tumultuous tenures in Boston, Brooklyn and now Dallas. He and the Mavericks might be stuck in a marriage of convenience because neither one has better options at their disposal.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac or RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.