Kyrie Irving is getting his wish. He is doing business.
And Luka Doncic is getting another All-Star to help him in Dallas.
The Mavericks and Brooklyn Nets agreed to a blockbuster trade on Sunday: Irving — the super-talented and often-enigmatic eight-time All-Star point guard — heads to the Dallas Chiefs in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and a package of draft picks, According to a person familiar with the terms of the deal, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it has not been finalized.
The Athletic and ESPN first reported the business deal. This will be completed after the teams have made the call with the NBA, which is standard for all trades.
The move comes two days after Irving told the Nets he wanted to be traded by Thursday’s league deadline after talks about a contract beyond this season didn’t go down well with him. He was not with the Nets for Saturday’s game, and as of Sunday afternoon, his time in Brooklyn was over.
It was not immediately clear when Irving would make his debut with Dallas. The Mavericks will play at Utah on Monday night.
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 quickly become one of the NBA’s top pairings, and figure to make Dallas a strong contender in the Western Conference, which has no shortage of championship-capable teams.
Irving, for now, is set to become a free agent after the season. The Los Angeles Lakers were believed to be one of the few teams interested in Irving – a notion that could reunite Irving with LeBron James, with whom he won a title in Cleveland in 2016.
The trade reunites Irving with Dallas general manager Nico Harrison, who was a Nike executive before the Mavericks took over in 2021. — and canceled the planned release of his next signature shoe just before his fall — as part of a massive fallout from Irving posting a link to an antisemitic film on his Twitter account.
It was one of many drama-filled sagas that marked Irving’s time with the Nets. He will not get vaccinated against COVID-19 and, due to New York City’s workplace rules, had to forfeit most of Brooklyn’s home games last season. He also took two leaves of absence during the 2020–21 season.
He has expressed no shortage of controversial views during his career – including repeatedly questioning whether the Earth was round before apologizing to science teachers.
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