Brooklyn Nets deal Kyrie Irving to Dallas Mavericks in blockbuster NBA trade: Reports

The Brooklyn Nets are trading Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks in a blockbuster deal just days before the NBA trade deadline, according to reports.

In return, the Nets get Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 first-round pick, along with a 2027 and 2029 second-round pick. Markieff Morris will also be going to Dallas. The deal was first reported by the Athletic and ESPN, and hasn’t been officially confirmed amid speculation that they could be looking for a third team to pull off the blockbuster deal.

Dallas gets another star-level player to pair alongside MVP candidate Luka Doncic, who reportedly was consulted before the trade was agreed on, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.

Irving, the 30-year-old disgruntled all-star, had requested a trade from Brooklyn after he didn’t get the contract extension he wanted after this season ends.

Irving is eligible for a contract extension, but the Nets refused to give him one last summer. Irving’s agent and stepmother, Shetellia Irving, told Bleacher Report last week that she had reached out to the Nets regarding a new deal. Kyrie Irving — whose current deal with the Nets expires after this season — is eligible for a four-year contract worth as much as $200 million.

Irving sat out the Brooklyn Nets’ come-from-behind win over Washington on Saturday night, a day after he told the team he would like to be traded.

The Nets said Irving’s absence was due to right calf soreness, adding him to the injury report for their game against Washington. Irving had not been listed on the report Friday night or Saturday morning.

This was just another saga surrounding Irving, who signed with his hometown team along with Durant in the summer of 2019.

He was suspended by the Nets for what became eight games earlier this season after the team said it was dismayed by his repeated failure to “unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs.” That came shortly after Irving refused to issue the apology that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sought for posting a link to an antisemitic work on his Twitter feed. Irving also wound up losing his long relationship with Nike as part of the massive fallout from what he tweeted and the reactions that followed.

“I don’t stand for anything close to hate speech or antisemitism or anything that is going against the human race,” Irving said on the day the Nets reinstated him in November.

Irving also missed much of the 2021-22 season because of his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19, which left him essentially ineligible to play in Brooklyn’s home games for much of the season because of New York City rules put in place in response to the pandemic.

He has also expressed no shortage of controversial opinions during his career — including repeated questioning whether the Earth was round before eventually apologizing to science teachers.

Irving also took a leave of absence during the 20-21 season, and general manager Sean Marks said this past summer that being available to play was going to be something the organization considered as it weighed an extension for Irving.

More later

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