Kyrie Irving was a huge get for Dallas but he is only under contract until the end of the season.
But if Irving and Luka Doncic perform well together for the remainder of the season, there could be a pathway for the Mavs to double down by adding yet another star and convince Irving to stay in the process, according to one NBA insider.
“Using a 2029 unprotected first-round pick to land Irving will allow Dallas to move both their 2025 and 2027 first-round picks this summer, after the Mavericks’ 2023 selection finally conveys to New York as part of the 2019 Kristaps Porzingis deal,” Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer wrote.
“If Irving and Doncic manage to form the partnership Doncic and Porzingis never could fully cement, then perhaps the Mavericks will even take those picks and go shopping for an additional co-star for Doncic and Irving. Why stop at two alphas when you can chase a third? That has been the going order of operations for teams in the superstar-stacking business.”
The first game the pair played together, they weren’t able to secure a win against Sacramento, going down 133-28 in OT. But they did combine for 55 points (Doncic with 28 and Irving 27), had 12 assists between them and both shot over 50 percent from the field.
The team is 2-4 with Irving and yesterday they had the chance to send the game to OT against the Timberwolves but Irving and Doncic kept passing it back and forth between each other in the dying seconds and ultimately wasted their chance.
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It’s only early days, as Irving and Doncic have played in a total of two games together, so it may take a few more games for them to figure each other out, and Irving is confident that will happen.
“It feels great,” Irving told the media after yesterday’s loss. “We just have to get more timely stops and take care of a few possessions. That can go either way. We’re playing in the Western Conference, and I am learning that there’s a lot of physicality [and] a lot of players that go get buckets.
“When you’re playing alongside somebody that has the consistency to score the ball, make plays, and really challenge the defense to make adjustments like Luka does, then we obviously are a force together to be reckoned with,” he said.
“Whether we’re being in pick-and-roll, or whether we’re making plays for one another off each other, so I think that’s the exciting future that I see alongside him.”