Getty Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, now of the Dallas Mavericks.
The Dallas Mavericks just made the NBA season’s biggest trade so far, landing Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving, according to multiple reports. And Irving is excited about the deal, according to Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report.
“Kyrie Irving is said to be ‘ecstatic’ about the trade to Dallas Mavericks and ‘looking forward’ to joining forces with Luka Dončić, a league source tells @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport,” Haynes tweeted.
The Mavericks are in sixth place in the Western Conference standings but just two games out of third place with 28 games left to play. Adding Irving, who won an NBA title in 2016, to the mix gives Dallas a superstar to play alongside league MVP candidate Doncic, who led the Mavericks to the Western Conference finals last season with point guard Jalen Brunson by his side. Irving will replace Brunson, who signed with the New York Knicks in the offseason, in the Dallas backcourt.
Irving, 30, is averaging 37.0 minutes per game in his 40 appearances this season. His numbers — 27.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game on 48.6% shooting from the floor and 37.4% shooting from behind the 3-point line — are on par with his career averages.
He sent shockwaves through the league on February 3 when he requested a trade from the Nets after contract extension talks went sideways. The point guard wanted a long-term deal, but Brooklyn was hesitant to commit to him for more than a year or two, and they wanted to include certain obligations. Along with Irving, the Mavericks got Markieff Morris in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a first-round pick and two seconds.
Mavericks Linked to Potential Deandre Ayton Trade
The Mavericks might not be done adding to its core, according to ESPN’s Tim McMahon. Appearing on the January 30 episode of “The Lowe Post” podcast, McMahon told host Zach Lowe that the Mavericks have shown interest in acquiring Deandre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns at some point in the future.
“Well, Deandre Ayton is certainly interesting, and he can veto any trade this year because he signed that extension,” McMahon said, referring to the four-year, $133 million maximum extension that Ayton signed in July 2022. “I don’t know that there’s a very long list of places that he would veto. I think that it’s reasonable to assume, based on the way things played out [last] summer, some of the comments he made, that he might not see Phoenix as his long-term home. And certainly, he wanted to go to [the] Indiana [Pacers]. So, whether that happens now or not, I don’t know. It is interesting. He’s a name that I’ve heard around the Mavericks. And again, I think that would have to be a later than right now type of situation.”
Mavericks Get Christian Wood Injury Update
While the trade for Irving is the headlining news, the Mavericks also have to worry about getting Christian Wood back on the court. According to Marc Stein, Wood still has a little while to go in his recovery from a fractured thumb.
“Christian Wood’s thumb fracture on his non-shooting hand was initially expected to sideline him for one week,” Stein wrote February 1 in The Stein Line, his Substack newsletter. “League sources now say Dallas’ Wood, who Thursday will miss his seventh consecutive game due to the injury, is unlikely to play before next week at the earliest.”
