Well, there it is. Kyrie Irving has been traded to the Dallas Mavericks, along with Markieff Morris, in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, a 2029 unprotected first round pick, and second round picks in 2027 and 2029. I think this is a good deal for both sides on the surface but there are plenty of layers to it, so let’s dive into it.
Let’s start with Dallas. This is a risk, no question. Every time anyone acquires Kyrie Irving, they take a risk, a big one at that. However, this is calculated risk by Dallas. They needed a co-star for Luka Doncic, badly. They have missed Jalen Brunson more than they anticipated and the minutes when Luka rests are brutal. The defense does get worse, trading Finney-Smith for Kyrie will do that but they will now be able to score in non-Luka minutes, something that they struggled to do before this trade. It will be fascinating to watch when both Doncic and Irving are on the court. The comparison I would make is the 2018 Rockets when they had Chris Paul and James Harden because just like Luka and Kyrie, people questioned whether Harden and CP3 could play together or not, they won 65 games and were a win away from an NBA Finals appearance. My guess is they do click offensively as they find ways to play off of each other but defense could be an issue. I think there are deals Dallas can make to improve their defense. They can package one of Davis Bertans or Tim Hardaway Jr. and a draft pick to add more defense with a guy with a bigger cap number, or 2 guys with smaller cap numbers. They can also trade Christian Wood as many have reported they are exploring, for some rim protection if they want. They will also need to rely more on their 3 and D wings, Reggie Bullock and Josh Green to make enough shots to put them on the court. Overall, I think this is a necessary risk for Dallas because of how badly they needed a co-star for Luka.
For the Nets there are multiple avenues that need to be discussed. The first is on the court. No, this trade didn’t make Brooklyn better. Kyrie Irving is better than Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith does not add enough to say the Nets got better. It does make them better defensively and this team is built in a way that shows they should be an elite defensive group. Kevin Durant, Royce O’Neale, Dorian Finney-Smith, Ben Simmons, and Nic Claxton are all really good defensively and allow Brooklyn to be a very good switch heavy team. The issue is there is not enough scoring around Durant. They can make other moves, Fred VanVleet is a player I would pursue if I were the Nets as he could be another ball handler to pair with Dinwiddie and another scorer to go with Durant. I would also trade Ben Simmons and would call the Spurs to see what they would be willing to offer Jakob Poeltl in a trade. According to Chris Haynes, the Suns and Lakers both made real offers for Irving. Phoenix offered Chris Paul, Jae Crowder, and unknown draft compensation, and the Lakers offered Russell Westbrook and the 2027 and 2029 picks that LA can trade. Let’s start with the Lakers package, those 2 picks could have had protections on them that we do not know about. Does 2 picks that, let’s say, have top 10 protections on them really do anything for you, especially since they can’t roll over to future years so if they were in the top 10 they would become a 2nd round pick? Even if they were unprotected, does that help you convince Kevin Durant to stay long term? For the Phoenix offer, what picks were in the trade? Jae Crowder is worse than Finney-Smith and are we sure that Paul is better than Dinwiddie at this point? Was there an unprotected pick on the table the way there was with Dallas? I think this was probably the best Brooklyn could do.
This trade does open a scary door for the Nets that has already been visited before, and that is a Kevin Durant trade request. At this point, it does not feel like the question is if a request and eventual trade will come but when will the trade request and eventual trade come. Does Durant want to be in Brooklyn without Irving? If that answer is no, the Nets were crazy to not pay Kyrie. Players like Kevin Durant rarely walk through any team's building and getting rid of the one guy that was keeping him there feels bold. However, the trade request Durant put in this summer and Kyrie was still a Net, so a trade request might have nothing to do with Irving.
Kyrie Irving is a Dallas Maverick, if you had told me on Thursday that Irving would be traded by Sunday, I would not have believed you. However, here we are. This is a risk for Dallas but one I think is worth making.
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