Mavs acquire Irving in trade
DALLAS — Kyrie Irving is getting his wish. He’s getting traded.
And Luka Doncic is getting another All-Star to help him in Dallas.
The Mavericks and Nets agreed Sunday on a blockbuster trade: Irving — the super-talented and often-enigmatic eighttime All-Star point guard — heads to Dallas, ending the pairing with Kevin Durant that never really had a chance to click.
The Nets get Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and a package of draft picks, according to a person familiar with the terms of the deal who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it had not been finalized when this edition went to print.
The Mavs also get Markieff Morris.
The Athletic and ESPN first reported the deal.
The move comes just two days after Irving told the Nets that he wanted to be traded by Thursday’s league deadline, after talks about a contract beyond this season didn’t go to his liking. He wasn’t with the Nets for their game Saturday, and by Sunday afternoon, his time in Brooklyn appeared to be at an end.
ESPN reported that Irving would take a physical in Dallas on Monday with a plan to join the team for a game Wednesday at the Clippers.
The 30-year-old Irving is averaging 27.1 points, 5.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds this season. Doncic is averaging 33.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 8.2 assists. They instantly become one of the NBA’s top duos, and figure to make the Mavericks even a stronger contender in a Western
Conference that has no shortage of championship-capable teams.
Irving is, for now, scheduled to become a free agent after the season. The Lakers were believed to have been one of a few teams interested in Irving — a notion that could have reunited Irving with LeBron James, with whom he won a title with the Cavaliers in 2016.
The trade does again pair Irving with GM Nico Harrison, who was a Nike executive before taking over the Mavericks in 2021.
Irving had a relationship with Nike for the entirety of his NBA career until earlier this season, when the sneaker giant dropped him — and canceled the planned release of his next shoe just before it dropped — as part of the massive fallout from Irving posting a link to an antisemitic film on his Twitter account.
That was one of many drama-filled sagas that marked Irving’s time with the Nets. He wouldn’t get vaccinated against COVID-19 and, because of New York City workplace rules, had to miss most of the Nets’ home games last season. He also took two leaves of absence during the 2020-21 season.
He has also expressed no shortage of controversial opinions during his career — including repeated questioning whether the Earth was round before eventually apologizing to science teachers.
The various issues limited Irving to 143 games in three-plus seasons with the Nets, and he and Durant were together for just 74 of them after their celebrated pairing in the summer of 2019. Irving signed as a free agent while Durant joined the Nets on a sign-and-trade with the Warriors.