According to various sources, the Brooklyn Nets and the Dallas Mavericks have reached an agreement for the trade that will send Kyrie Irving to Dallas. According to reports, the transaction will result in the Nets acquiring Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, and future draft picks.
Brooklyn reportedly receives:
- Spencer Dinwiddie
- Dorian Finney-Smith
- 2027 second-round pick
- 2029 first-round pick (unprotected)
- 2029 second round-pick
Dallas reportedly receives:
- Kyrie Irving
- Markieff Morris
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.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2023
Irving reportedly asked to be transferred from Brooklyn before the trade deadline on February 9, and the rumored transaction comes just two days after he made his request. He was not present for the game that Brooklyn was playing on Saturday night; the team said that he was injured and that he had been excused from being at the arena because of this. It also brings to a close a turbulent time spent in Brooklyn.
With 2019, Irving inked a contract with the team he supported since childhood in the hopes of winning a championship while playing alongside Kevin Durant.
But one scandal led to another, the most notable being that he was forced to miss almost the entirety of the home schedule during the previous season due to his refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and that he received an eight-game suspension at the beginning of this season after the team expressed its disappointment in his repeated failure to “unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs” in response to his posting of a movie link on Twitter.
Both of these incidents occurred after the team said it was Irving was only able to play 143 games during his three-and-a-half seasons with the Nets due to a variety of circumstances, and he and Durant only played 74 of those games together following their highly publicized pairing in the summer of 2019. While Irving joined the Celtics as a free agent, Durant was dealt to the Nets by Golden State as part of a sign-and-trade deal.
Chris Haynes said that the Nets chose the Mavericks’ offer over those from the Lakers and Suns, which included first-round picks in 2027 and 2029. (Chris Paul, Jae Crowder, plus picks). Haynes said that the decision was made to try to “keep the team afloat” until Durant came back from his injury in a few weeks.
This season, Irving is averaging 27.1 points, 5.3 assists, and 5.1 boards. Doncic averages 33.4 points, 8.9 boards, and 8.2 assists per game. They are now one of the best duos in the NBA, and they should make Dallas a stronger contender in the West, where there are a lot of teams that can win the championship.
For now, Irving is set to become a free agent at the end of the season. It was thought that the Los Angeles Lakers were one of a few teams interested in Irving. This could have brought Irving back together with LeBron James, with whom he won a championship in Cleveland in 2016.
In October, after the Nets lost to the Mavericks at home in overtime, Irving said that the Mavericks had parts of “a great team.” He talked at length about how much he likes Doncic’s game after the Mavs star scored 41 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and gave out 11 assists.
“I think first, we’ve got to discuss just how long he’s been playing professional basketball. I think it’s been since like 14, 15 years old,” Irving said that night. “He’s used to seeing so many different defenses, so many different roles that he’s played, I’m sure, overseas. And now that he’s in the NBA, you just see him. He plays at an incredible pace. He makes great decisions.”
It wasn’t clear right away when Irving would play his first game for Dallas. On Monday night, the Mavericks play at Utah. Wojnarowski says Irving will come to Dallas on Monday for a physical, and he could make his debut against the Clippers on Wednesday (10 ET, ESPN).
