Kyrie Irving Requests Trade From Cavaliers; Could the Mavs Be His Destination?

Trouble is brewing up in Cleveland.  Following the departure of general manager David Griffin earlier this summer, another bad domino fell for the Cavaliers when franchise point guard Kyrie Irving requested a trade in a meeting with owner Dan Gilbert last week.

Irving cited his desire to find a bigger role and not playing alongside LeBron James as his main reasons for requesting a trade from the team that drafted him first overall back in 2011.  

A bigger role, you say?  LeBron James not playing on that team?  The Dallas Mavericks can check both of those boxes.  Should they be interested in acquiring the 4x All-Star point guard?

According to the report by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Irving’s preferred destination is the San Antonio Spurs and he is also interested in the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and the Miami Heat.  Unfortunately for Irving, that will have no relevance to Cavaliers if they do try to deal him since he does not have a no trade clause like disgruntled Knicks star Carmelo Anthony.

If the Mavs were to try to come up with a deal for Kyrie Irving, what would it look like?

Even though other recent trades, like the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s for Paul George and the Houston Rockets‘ for Chris Paul, have shown the hamstrung team dealing the superstar receive underwhelming returns, there’s no chance Dallas could fleece Cleveland in a deal for Irving without giving up 19 year-old first round pick Dennis Smith, Jr.

Is that an automatic dealbreaker for the Mavs front office?  

It shouldn’t be. 

Before punching the screen or filling the comments section with hate, take a moment to think it over.

Kyrie Irving is only 25 years old.  He’s coming off his best statistical season of his career with 25 points and 6 assists per game while shooting over 40% from beyond the arc. He’s right near the top of the list for best point guards in the league and even a top 20 player in the league.

The Mavs and their fans alike can only HOPE that Dennis Smith, Jr. can eventually bloom into that caliber of player.  Irving is already there and his best might still be to come.  

It’s worth mentioning that an acquisition of Irving wouldn’t be a potential rental, either.  After agreeing to a five year extension in the summer of 2014, Irving is signed through the 2019-2020 season.  Potentially three full seasons before his opportunity to play elsewhere.

While every MFFL cannot wait to see Dennis Smith, Jr. don a Mavs jersey, the certainty of a player like Kyrie Irving playing alongside Dirk Nowitzki in his final season or two would be just as thrilling and less of a learning project for the team and fans alike.

What else could be in a deal involving Smith, Jr. and Irving?  Irving makes close to $18.9 million this season and Smith, Jr.’s rookie deal will net him only around $3.2 million, so a straight swap wouldn’t be allowed due to the Mavs and Cleveland both being over the cap teams.

One potential deal: 

Cleveland Receives: Wes Matthews, Dennis Smith, Jr. and Mavs 2018 Unprotected First Round Pick

Dallas Receives: Kyrie Irving

The Mavericks have surely tried to explore trades involving Wes Matthews this season as he still has two more years on his deal.  Adding his $17.9 million salary with Smith, Jr.’s puts the dollar amounts being swapped close enough to make a deal work.  Would that be enough to satisfy Cleveland?

Smith, Jr. has had about as good a month of July as anyone as the 9th pick in last month’s draft put on a show in Las Vegas during Summer League play.  His 17 points per game earned him a spot on the All Summer League First Team.  He’s been all over Twitter and Instagram with his highlight plays and sports betting side Bovada has him at 3/1 odds to win Rookie of the Year.  Those are better odds than any other rookie, including Summer League MVP Lonzo Ball of the Los Angeles Lakers.

All the more reason for Dallas to hang onto their potential star, right?  The potential versus the certainty.  It’s a tough decision the Mavericks probably won’t have to make in regards to acquiring Kyrie Irving.  It’s worth wondering though.

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