The Dallas Mavericks are a young, up-and-coming team -- headlined by the likes of Cooper Flagg, Morez Johnson, and Dereck Lively II (if he can ever get healthy).
In many ways, Kyrie Irving is a relic from a bygone era. He represents one of the final remnants from their last title pursuit. By all accounts, it seems like Irving is ready to serve as the elder statesman of this blossoming group, but I'm sure he also wouldn't mind being traded to a team with more immediate aspirations. And I'm also certain that the Mavericks wouldn't mind use his cache to acquire some more draft capital.
With this in mind, here are three hypothetical trades for Irving that the Mavericks should do in a heartbeat.
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Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant are teammates once more
The Houston Rockets desperately missed Fred VanVleet last season. However, even when he's around, VanVleet is a little underqualified to be the primary ball handler on a championship-level team. But you know who wouldn't be? Kyrie Irving.
So, the Mavericks can leverage the Rockets desire to compete to turn Irving into VanVleet, Reed Sheppard, two firsts (one being a swap), and two seconds (one also being a swap).
VanVleet would give the Mavericks a veteran conductor who can help their inexperienced crew remain competitive. The draft capital seems adequate for where Irving is at this stage of his career, and while I wouldn't give up Reed Sheppard if I were the Rockets, this post is from the Mavericks' perspective, and he's a talented player with some untapped upside.
One former All-NBA guard for another
Another team that could use Irving's ability to close games while also being able to play alongside their burgeoning players is the San Antonio Spurs. Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle are below-average shooters, which makes De'Aaron Fox a less than ideal fit alongside them. Irving is both a better tough-shot maker and floor spacer.
The Spurs can get off Fox's contract and create more lineup balance by packaging the Southpaw with two first round picks and two seconds (one being a pick swap). This would cover the cost of Irving (who is probably worth around two firsts) and the burden of Fox's contract. And again, Fox is good enough to where the Mavericks can remain semi-competitive in the meantime.
Devin Booker gets a new Chris Paul
If the Phoenix Suns plan on building upon last season's success, they need to get another premier player alongside Devin Booker. As we've already estabilished, Irving is such a fantastic fit alongside any other high-usage player because of his ability to oscillate between playing on and off the ball.
In this FanSpo trade, the Suns would get Booker his co-star in exchange for two firsts, Jalen Green, and Luke Kennard. Green isn't as good of a floor general as Fox or VanVleet, but they are also getting an A+ sharpshooter (something the Mavericks also need) in Kennard. Also, unlike with the Fox trade, the Mavericks won't have to take on any uber-bloated contracts (both Green and Kennard have two years left on their current deals), helping the team maintain their future financial flexibility.
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