Top Stories

Nets officially trade Kyrie Irving to Mavericks

Brooklyn has officially agreed to trade All-Star guard Kyrie Irving to Dallas for 2 players and 3 future Draft picks.

From NBA.com News Services

NBA on TNT's Chris Haynes details how the Kyrie Irving trade to Dallas manifested.

The Brooklyn Nets have officially agreed to trade Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks, the team announced Monday. The Nets receive Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and future Draft picks in the deal.

Brooklyn receives: 

  • Spencer Dinwiddie
  • Dorian Finney-Smith
  • 2027 second-round pick
  • 2029 first-round pick (unprotected)
  • 2029 second round-pick

Dallas receives:

  • Kyrie Irving
  • Markieff Morris

Irving will wear No. 2 for the Mavericks.

The deal comes days after Irving requested to be traded from Brooklyn ahead of the Feb. 9 trade deadline. He was not with Brooklyn for its game Saturday night, with the team saying he was injured and that he was excused from being at the arena. Per Chris Haynes of the NBA on TNT, Irving is “ecstatic” about playing for the Mavs and is “looking forward” to playing along side Dallas superstar guard Luka Doncic.

“Thank you NetsWorld fans and supporters for the Love on and off the court,” Irving tweeted early Monday morning. “I will forever be grateful I got to live out my dream I had as a Kid with y’all. It will always be Love from me and my family.”

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 Dallas even a stronger contender in a Western Conference that has no shortage of championship-capable teams.

It was not immediately clear when Irving would make his debut with Dallas. The Mavericks play at Utah on Monday night. Per Wojnarowski, Irving is expected to arrive in Dallas for a Monday physical, ahead of a potential debut against the LA Clippers on Wednesday (10 ET, ESPN).

Irving is, for now, scheduled to become a free agent after the season. The trade does again pair Irving with Dallas general manager Nico Harrison, who was a Nike executive before taking over the Mavericks in 2021.

The trade also ends a tumultuous stint in Brooklyn.

Irving signed with his childhood favorites in 2019 with hopes of winning a title while playing alongside Durant.

But one saga followed another, highlighted by him having to miss almost the entire home schedule last season over his refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and an eight-game suspension earlier this season after the team said it was dismayed by his repeated failure to “unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs” following his posting of a movie link on Twitter.

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 Golden State.

As Kyrie Irving leaves Brooklyn after 3 1/2 years, his tenure with the Nets was perhaps best known for its many letdowns.

After the Nets lost to Dallas at home in overtime in October, Irving said he saw traits of the Mavericks being “a great team.” And he spoke at length of how highly he thinks of Doncic’s game, after the Mavs star had a 41-point, 14-rebound, 11-assist masterpiece.

“I think first, we’ve got to discuss just how long he’s been playing professional basketball. I think it’s been since like 14, 15 years old,” Irving said that night. “He’s used to seeing so many different defenses, so many different roles that he’s played, I’m sure, overseas. And now that he’s in the NBA, you just see him. He plays at an incredible pace. He makes great decisions.”

Dinwiddie spent five seasons with the Nets and had his best season in 2019-20, when he averaged a career-best 20.6 points while starting 49 games, mostly when Irving was injured.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Related

Latest