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Kyrie Irving’s time with the Mavs has not gone as planned. These three teams could look to pry Kyrie Irving away from the Mavs.
When the Mavericks decided to trade for Kyrie Irving before this year’s trade deadline, it was to make a push for the postseason. Unfortunately for them, that is not how things played out.
The Mavs posted an 8-12 record in the 20 games Kyrie Irving played with the team. He also missed seven games due to a lingering foot injury. Dallas ended up with a 38-44 record, finishing 11th in the Western Conference and missing both the NBA Playoffs and Play-In Tournament entirely.
All things considered, do the Mavs reward Irving with a lucrative long-term contract extension even though the team struggled since his arrival and he continued to struggle with being available for his team on a nightly basis?
Or, do the Mavs accept the sunk cost and move on before they invest further in the mercurial point guard? Kyrie Irving heads into this offseason as an unrestricted free agent. But being that the Mavs have Irving’s Bird rights, they could offer him more money than virtually any other team.
Teams that could persuade Kyrie Irving to leave the Mavs:
3. Miami Heat
The Heat have been linked to Kyrie Irving dating back to his days as a member of the Cavs, six years ago! Not to mention, there were more rumors connecting Irving to the Heat during his most recent request to be traded from the Nets.
The Heat have been searching for a long time to add another superstar alongside Jimmy Butler in hopes of capitalizing on the championship window they believe is still open. Unfortunately, the acquisition of Kyle Lowry has not yielded the results Miami was hoping for.
Currently in the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed, the Heat are almost certainly not pleased with how this season has gone to date when you consider they were just one shot away from an NBA Finals appearance last year.
Once/if the Heat fall short yet again this season, it would not be shocking to see them look to refine the roster this offseason. Being that they have such a high payroll and limited draft capital, the Heat will have to find ways to get creative this Summer.
Perhaps the Heat can find a suitor to take on at least one of Duncan Robinson and/or Kyle Lowry’s contracts to help create adequate cap space for Kyrie Irving.