The Brooklyn Nets have officially acquiesced Kyrie Irving’s trade demands and dealt him to the Dallas Mavericks, according to Shams Charania.
Mavericks Get: Kyrie Irving PG
Nets Get: Spencer Dinwiddie PG, Dorian Finney-Smith F, DAL ’29 1st round (unprotected), DAL ’27 2nd round, DAL ’29 2nd round
Well that didn’t take very long. The tantalizing, and often strenuous, Kyrie experiment in Brooklyn has finally come to an end. When Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant first signed with Brooklyn in June of 2019, few could have predicted this outcome. On one hand Kevin Durant, a top-3 player of his generation, MVP winner, two time NBA champion and Finals MVP. On the other, Kyrie Irving, an NBA champion and one of the most electrifying players in the NBA. It seemed at a minimum the talented duo would be a perennial contender.
The result: just 74 games played together and one playoff series win in 4 years together.
A decent chunk of this time was due to injury, with Kyrie and Durant missed a combined 144 games in the first year alone. However, the rest of the absences were self-inflicted.
In 2021, Irving refused to get the vaccination mandated by New York City and other states. Despite the mandate eventually getting lifted in March of 2022, the damage was done with Kyrie missing 53 regular season games. Despite having Irving and Durant for the playoffs the Nets ended up getting swept by the Boston Celtics.
In the 2022 off-season, the Nets were unwilling to commit to a long-term contract due the strife caused by Irving during the 2021 season. As a result, Irving formally requested a trade from the Nets. No team interested in Irving had the necessary cap space, and the Nets were unable to find a suitable trade partner. Kyrie teased opting out, but ultimately accepted his lack of leverage and opted in to the final year of his contract for $36.5 million.
Not long into the 2022-23 season, drama struck again. On October 27th, Kyrie tweeted a link to an anti-Semitic film named Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America. After initially refusing to apologize, Kyrie finally gave a half apology on November 3rd, saying ““I didn’t mean to cause any harm”. It was too, too late and the Nets suspended Irving “indefinitely”. The suspension ultimately ended 8 games later, Kyrie returned to action on November 20th. After returning, there was no chatter or drama surrounding Irving and the Nets went on a tear, going 24-11 over the next 35 games. All quiet on the Eastern front. Then out of nowhere, Shams Charania reported on February 3rd that Irving had officially requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets. The second such request in less than 12 months.
None of that seemed to matter to the Dallas Mavericks who paid full price at the pump for a potential half season rental. For their part, the Mavericks are banking on the relationships of General Manager Nico Harrison and Head Coach Jason Kidd to help keep Kyrie happy. Harrison is an ex-Nike executive who had a relationship with Kyrie for years there, and Kidd was Irving’s childhood role model. With Kidd ‘confident’ that he could work with Irving.
There has been recent chatter that Luka Doncic will not tolerate losing for long. Though Luka is signed through the 2025-26 season, the Mavericks were already feeling pressure. Tim MacMahon reported on The Hoop Collective podcast, he believed the Mavericks had a two-year window to convince Luka they were doing everything possible to compete.
“I think they have a two-year window. This season and next season going into that [2024] summer. I think they have a two-year window where, you know, like Milwaukee did with Giannis [Antetokounmpo], I think in that window they really need to convince Luka that he has a chance to contend year in and year out right here in Dallas. If they can’t get it done in that two-year window, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that he’s going to force a trade or ask for a trade. I’m just saying at that point if he’s not happy, he has all the leverage in the world if he would be looking to leave.”
Tim MacMahon, Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective
While trading for an established star is normally a good way to do this, Irving carries extraordinary risks both on and off the court.
The risk should reduce the price, but the Mavericks were even more desperate than many thought. The Mavericks traded both Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith, along with their only tradable first round pick in 2029 (due to protections on the 2023 1st round pick owed to the Knicks). Finney-Smith is one of the best 3&D role players in the league and signed for a contract with an AAV of $14 million through 2024-25. Dinwiddie has shown he can be a starting point guard, and has been having one of the most efficient shooting years of his career (45 FG% and 40 3P%).
Due to Irving’s impending free agency the Mavericks will have to give Kyrie a large guaranteed contract or risk losing him, and the assets they traded to acquire him, for nothing. His tumultuous time with the Nets proves that signing Irving to a multi-year contract is one of the riskiest propositions in the NBA. If his trade request was any indication, anything less than a 3-year, fully guaranteed contract could cause Kyrie to walk, especially with the Lakers looming. If he does, the Mavericks could clear around $30 million in cap space.
But who would they use the cap space on? Harden and VanVleet can opt out of their Player Options and D’Angelo Russell is a UFA. But the Mavericks have had a recent track record of getting spurned by free agents.
The return for the Nets is everything they could have hoped for. They get a great role player in Dorian Finney-Smith who should immediately slot into the starting lineup, creating a defensive wing duo with Royce O’Neale. Finney-Smith coincidentally has the respect of Kevin Durant, per Tim MacMahon.
“I know Kevin Durant has a lot of respect for Dorian Finney-Smith. He’s the kind of player that every star wants to play with. That 3&D, unselfish, guard multiple positions wing.
Tim MacMahon, Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective
Spencer Dinwiddie will replace Kyrie as the starting point guard for the time being, and will be capable of leading the second unit in stretches without Durant. If that’s all they had gotten, the trade would have seemed fair.
But they got a 2029 unprotected first round, and two second round picks, as well. If they are confident Durant will stay, they can put that pick to work right away and try to acquire another starter or multiple role players to help their championship efforts. The two players they got are worth more than one first round pick. That means even if the Lakers offered both first round picks, the Mavericks offer was stronger and the Nets were right to accept it without hesitation.
Mavericks Grade: C-
Nets Grade: A