Kyrie Irving will be back for the 2026-27 season after missing last season recovering from an ACL injury. His position with the Dallas Mavericks remains strong enough to keep him with the franchise.
Trade talks have been speculated, with the likes of the Miami Heat being viewed as a possible destination for the former NBA champion. However, the current situation doesn’t appear to paint those speculations as concrete.
According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, Irving’s worth in Dallas supersedes any current outside interest for the star guard.
“I saw some stuff online that the Heat potentially had trade interest for Kyrie Irving,” Fischer said. “I don’t really see how that deal could make sense for Dallas’ side of things. The Mavericks have been swatting away interest for Kyrie Irving all offseason long.”
The Heat have reportedly been trying all summer to add extra shooting presence to the roster after acquiring two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. With Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo occupying two core starting roles, shooting and scoring pieces in the backcourt have been targeted.
Miami Heat Learn Kyrie Irving Update from Insider
Irving was always going to be a tough target. The Mavs had a disappointing 2025-26 season, missing out on the playoffs despite a Rookie of the Year performance from Cooper Flagg.
The Mavs are not totally in full rebuild mode and there are reportedly no current plans to move their main star veteran guard after trading Luka Doncic early last year.
Irving’s season-long absence has hardly diminished his worth if the Mavs do a trade. His game sharpness may take some time, but he remains one of the top scoring and creation guards in the league.
“There’s definitely expectation that Kyrie is gonna come out and be potentially All-Star caliber yet again and really be a key contributor sidekick next to Cooper Flagg, where the Mavericks don’t control this year’s first round pick and have every incentive to compete for a playoff position,” Fischer added. “I don’t know how Miami could get involved in that regard.”
Dallas may revisit an Irving trade around the midseason trade deadline, according to Heavy’s Sean Deveney.
“Like a lot of veterans, the idea is to play him through January, build value and see if something can be done at the deadline,” Deveney reported recently.
Suppose the Mavs look at Irving’s salary and picture gaining flexibility, something could come out. The star guard can only be traded for returns this summer given his player option for the 2027-28 season.
Irving is owed roughly $39.4 million for the upcoming season and Dallas isn’t facing serious cap pressure to clear space. Moving him would only be putting future flexibility over any chance of a possible playoff push alongside Flagg.
The Heat may not have all the suitable pieces and draft capital to work a direct trade, which would probably add extra complications. Irving may be 34 but would perhaps still command more than one future first round selection as well as significant cap space that needs to be cleared.
Predicting the Next Move
Miami added Tim Hardaway Jr. this offseason and also has Davion Mitchell on the roster. However, with the caliber of guards that left in Tyler Herro and Norman Powell, the general feeling around the organization is that they would be open to welcoming a high-impact guard addition.
“I do think that Miami’s roster isn’t exactly done and that the guard position is something that they will look at moving forward,” Fischer said.
The Heat have a solid-looking lineup with Antetokounmpo and Adebayo. But with both stars in the frontcourt, the backcourt would need to be balanced with some top scoring or shooting presence.
Irving would be a top addition, but with the Mavs current stance on not wanting to trade him, the Heat can either look elsewhere or make use of the available option and hope the situation changes before the trade deadline.
If the Irving and Flagg combo doesn’t look to be winning games for Dallas, the franchise may be forced to use the Irving card for that future flexibility.
Miami Heat Get New Kyrie Irving Trade Update as Star Expected to Near Move