Trading Kyrie Irving now would be a mistake for the Mavericks, and Dallas seems to know it.
Around the league, some rival fans and media types are already talking themselves into the idea that the Mavericks should move Irving and hand the keys to Cooper Flagg. The age gap is obvious - Irving is 34 and Flagg is 19 - and that alone has fueled plenty of chatter about skipping ahead to the next era. But Dallas has more reasons to stay patient than to force a deal that could backfire fast.
As NBA insider Marc Stein noted recently on his Substack, rival teams are curious whether the Mavericks will keep brushing off trade interest in Irving as the February 11 deadline approaches. Dallas should keep doing exactly that for now, especially because the team does not own its 2027 first-round pick. That makes the usual tanking logic a lot less useful than it was last year.
The Mavericks may not look like a contender, but this group - with Irving and the new additions - still projects as a better roster on paper than the one Dallas rolled out a year ago. Irving’s presence matters beyond scoring, too.
With Klay Thompson gone, his veteran voice is valuable on a young team, and he stands well above everyone else in age on the roster. Caleb Martin is the only other player on Dallas who is beyond his 20s.
Could a future Irving trade help jumpstart the build around Flagg? Absolutely.
But right now, that’s not the move Dallas can afford to make. If the Mavericks dealt Irving today, they’d strip away what little playmaking and shot creation they already have.
The result would almost certainly be another season stuck well short of the play-in picture.
For now, Dallas’ best approach is simple: stay aligned with Irving and let the season tell the story. If the deadline gets closer and the Mavericks are clearly nowhere near the play-in race, then the conversation changes. At that point, moving Irving to a contender for first-round picks and young players makes sense.
But that moment hasn’t arrived yet, and Dallas still hasn’t even seen Flagg and Irving share the floor. That’s part of what makes this worth waiting on.
Irving is coming off a long layoff after his torn ACL, and Flagg is entering his second season. There’s real curiosity in what the two could look like together before anyone starts breaking the pairing apart.
The Mavericks also appear capable of landing in roughly the .500 range this season, with a chance to move into contender territory next year if Masai Ujiri and company make the right moves with the roster. Even with the 15-year age gap, Irving and Flagg don’t have to be a short-term fit only. They both came through Duke, and Flagg’s easygoing personality makes it easier to imagine the two working well together than not.
Irving has also been well liked in Dallas and has clearly enjoyed his time there. That alone gives the Mavericks reason to avoid rushing into anything.
Unless a team offers a huge package that Dallas simply can’t turn down, there’s no need to move him just to make a move. And with few realistic trade scenarios out there that truly fit what the Mavericks would want from a contender needing a shot creator, patience is the smart play until the situation changes.
In Other News...
Klay's Dallas Gamble Looks Even Bigger After What We Learned About LA
Klay Thompsons time in Dallas already carried the feel of a bold basketball detour, but the backdrop around it has only gotten more interesting. He spent two seasons with the Mavericks after signing there in free agency, then moved on without getting the title run he was hoping for, a result shaped in part by injuries to Kyrie Irving and the kind of roster churn that has followed this team for the past couple of years.
Now the story has picked up another layer with his father, Mychal Thompson, venting about Klay passing on the Lakers not once but twice, including a personal push from LeBron James. For Mavericks fans, it is another reminder of how quickly the league can rearrange itself around a decision that once looked straightforward, especially with Luka Doni later landing in Los Angeles and changing the picture around the whole West. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Linked To Lakers Move That Could Cost Luka A Key Fit
The Lakers are still sorting out their starting power forward spot after missing on Jonathan Kuminga, who chose the Timberwolves, and one suggested path has them looking into a move that would send P.J. Washington out of Dallas. Washington has become a useful fit for the Mavericks because he can fill a similar role to the one Los Angeles wanted from Kuminga, giving the team a versatile frontcourt piece who already understands how to play alongside Luka Doncic.
For Dallas, the intrigue is not just about replacing a rotation piece, but about whether dealing Washington would undercut one of the cleaner fits around Doncic. His familiarity with Luka could make him especially valuable if the Mavericks are trying to keep the offense organized and balanced, which is why any chatter around a potential Lakers-Mavs swap carries extra weight. There is still a real sense that if Los Angeles pushes forward, the Mavericks could be forced to weigh short-term flexibility against losing one of their more natural complements. [Read more 🡒]
Mavs Leaked 2K Ratings Show This Roster Still Has Something To Prove
The early buzz around NBA 2K27s Dallas Mavericks ratings is giving fans another snapshot of where the roster stands before the season even gets rolling. The leaked numbers suggest a team with plenty of recognizable talent, but also one that still has room to climb, especially as the game continues to adjust player attributes based on how the year unfolds.
Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving sit atop the group at 87 overall, which tells its own story about both promise and respect without pushing anyone into elite territory yet. Behind them, the frontcourt depth is grouped tightly, with Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington all landing at 79, a reminder that this roster may need more than reputation to move up the ladder once the real games begin. [Read more 🡒]