Getty Kyrie Irving, now of the Dallas Mavericks.
The Dallas Mavericks just added a star.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Mavericks are trading for Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving. Dallas is shipping out Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a first-round pick, and multiple seconds in exchange for the star.
“BREAKING: The Brooklyn Nets are trading Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a first-round and multiple second-round picks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium,” Charania tweeted.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN then clarified a point of the deal, noting that Dallas would be sending their 2029 first-rounder to the Nets.
“Clarify: Mavs are sending 2029 first-round pick to the Nets,” Wojnarowski tweeted.
Charania also then reported on which seconds the Mavericks would be giving up. Brooklyn is also trading Markieff Morris to the Mavericks.
“The Mavericks are sending a 2029 unprotected first-round pick, a 2027 second-round pick and a 2029 second round-pick to the Nets, sources @TheAthletic @Stadium. Brooklyn also is sending Markieff Morris to Dallas,” Charania tweeted.
Irving just recently requested a trade from the Nets. The two sides were working on a contract extension, but Brooklyn refused to commit to Irving long-term. In turn, Irving, who wanted a long-term deal, turned around and asked for a trade.
Dallas now has Luka Doncic, Irving, and Christian Wood as their Big 3 heading into the rest of the season. That should be good enough to make a push toward the top of the Western Conference standings and a serious playoff push.
The only risk the Mavericks run is whether or not they will be able to re-sign Irving past this season. Irving will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, meaning he could choose to leave the Mavericks if he wants to. If that ends up being the case, Dallas could lose him for nothing.
Mavericks Linked to Deandre Ayton Trade
In addition to the Irving trade, the Mavericks were previously linked to other stars. During an appearance on The Lowe Post, Tim MacMahon of ESPN reported that the Mavericks could be interested in adding Deandre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns down the line.
“Well, Deandre Ayton is certainly interesting, and he can veto any trade this year because he signed that extension,” MacMahon said. “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 this 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 Receive Christian Wood Injury News
Dallas also has to worry about getting Wood healthy and back on the court. Long-time NBA insider Marc Stein reported on his injury in a recent edition of his newsletter, The Stein Line.
“Christian Wood’s thumb fracture on his non-shooting hand was initially expected to sideline him for one week,” Stein wrote. “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.”