Mavs risk losing Doncic by going all-in on Kyrie Irving
The Kyrie Irving saga finally ended for Brooklyn with them salvaging the situation by acquiring two Dallas starters in Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith, as well as an unprotected 2029 first round pick (and two additional second rounders). That 2029 first rounder could come in very handy for the Nets, since by then who knows where Luka Doncic is playing.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. https://t.co/EtqlQqQuGq
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2023
Dallas now has two stars, but little else. Plus one of their stars is Kyrie Irving who you can never count on. Dallas made a surprising run last year in the playoffs, but have now lost Jalen Brunson, Dinwiddie (a plus 40 percent 3-point shooter who helped spread the floor for Doncic, and Finney-Smith, one of Luka's closest friends on the team and their key defensive guy.
In their place they add the volatile Irving with his tremendous offensive abilities, but very poor defense. They have the overpaid Tim Hardaway Jr, Christian Wood, and little else of a supporting cast. They also have little draft capital left due to recent trades.
Regarding Kyrie and the Mavs, think Cleopatra and the asp. Don’t come back in two years and say you weren’t warned.
— Bob Ryan (@GlobeBobRyan) February 6, 2023
When Irving left Boston, they could retool around Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Gordon Hayward (at the time). When the Irving experiment goes sour in Dallas, do you really think Doncic is going to be fine with sticking around and wasting his prime as a one man show on a piss poor team?
When Irving pulled his latest tantrum of holding the Nets hostage by demanding a max extension or never playing for them again, they had little choice but to trade him. The fact that they were able to recoup assets back was a surprising positive. They still will likely have to trade Durant now, which sucks for them, but at least they can now finally move on.
— CelticsLife.com (@celticslife) February 6, 2023Teams will be monitoring the Kevin Durant situation closely now, but even more will be following what happens with Doncic in the coming years. It's just him and Kyrie in Dallas. Not the ideal supporting cast to count on.