The Houston Rockets are off to a 5-1 start, and that has some people wondering whether they should swing for the fences while the window looks open. Former NBA head coach Sam Mitchell thinks there’s one move that could push Houston to the top of the league: go get Kyrie Irving.
On SiriusXM NBA Radio, Mitchell made the case that Irving’s play has changed the conversation around what a trade package might look like and what kind of team Houston could become with him in the mix.
“Kyrie is making everybody on that team better,” Mitchell said. “Everybody thought this was going to be a down year for Dallas with a young coach straight from college, with all these young players, transitioning to building this team around Cooper [Flagg].
Nobody knew what Kyrie was going to look like. Man, Kyrie looked better than he did before he got hurt.
“You might can get get two first-round picks for Kyrie now,” Mitchell continued. “And that’s a lot for a 34-year-old injured point guard who missed all of last year with an injury.
I’ll tell you right now, the Houston Rockets? You put him on the Houston Rockets [Brian Geltzeiler], with the injuries in the rest of the West?
It might be over. They are clearly the best team with Kyrie out there.”
Irving has given Dallas plenty to feel good about after a long layoff. The nine-time All-Star tore his left ACL in March 2025 and sat out the entire 2025-26 season, so there was plenty of curiosity about how he’d look once the games started again.
There had already been some optimism after Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. said Irving looked sharp in offseason workouts. Still, preseason and early regular-season games were the real test, and Irving handled both well.
The biggest statement came Friday at American Airlines Center, when he torched the Rockets for 35 points on 12-for-19 shooting, along with four rebounds and nine assists in Dallas’ 116-111 win. That performance helped the Mavericks move to 4-2 and handed Houston its first loss of the season.
If Irving was auditioning, he made a strong case.
Dallas wasn’t interested in moving him over the summer, but that doesn’t mean the trade chatter is dead now. The Miami Heat are keeping tabs on his availability, and Irving is said to be interested in Miami as well, though the price could be too steep for them.
Houston, meanwhile, has the kind of draft capital that could get Dallas’s attention. Irving is averaging 21.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks this season, and he would be a major upgrade at point guard over Fred VanVleet.
The Rockets also have reason to think big right now because the Western Conference landscape has shifted. Oklahoma City has been hit by injuries to Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, and Cason Wallace, with Williams likely out for the season. That has taken some shine off the Thunder’s early-season dominance.
With the West suddenly looking less daunting, Mitchell’s point is simple: this may be the moment for Houston to chase a move that changes everything. The Rockets have started fast, and the question now is whether they stay patient or take a real swing.
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