The Dallas Mavericks remain adamant about seeing, at least once, how Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg mesh together on the court next season.

It's among the biggest storylines involving the Mavs ahead of the 2026-27 season, though the team's next head coach will also have a direct impact on how the veteran point guard and budding star forward blend.

"I dream like you dream, man. All of us dream. I want to see that," president Masai Ujiri said about the pairing following his decision to not bring back Jason Kidd as coach. "I think it’s going to be pretty cool, and I know it’s going to help Cooper because Kyrie likes to play off the ball too."

Dallas' new general manager, Mike Schmitz, also iterated that there are no immediate plans related to Irving's future other than getting him on the court with Flagg at the start of next season.

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"The competitive fire is special," Schmitz said of his new role with Ujiri. "Whether it’s players, coaches, or staff, you will always know what the goal is. You’re always going to know where you stand, and I love that. I love the transparency. I try to think I’m a nice, friendly guy, but deep down, I’m incredibly competitive myself. There’s a fire burning deep within me that I think helps me resonate with the way he views basketball, the way he views sport, the way he views leadership."

In the end, Irving's future in Dallas will be questioned because he is 34 years old. The Mavs had a similar tone when they spoke of Anthony Davis at the beginning of this season, and injuries derailed his time on the court before the trade deadline.

The Mavericks are hoping for health for Irving, but the team's strength and conditioning staff has garnered plenty of scrutiny and turnover over the years, so nothing is for certain. Irving, of course, is returning from a torn ACL in March 2025, and after missing a full 82-game season while Dallas fell out of playoff contention, he's expected to be ready to go once the fall rolls around.

But will Dallas, instead, back track on its word and trade Irving for future-focused capital, such as a young player and draft picks?

For the sake of the investigation, we'll look at CBS Sports writer Sam Quinn's five possible landing spots for Irving if the Mavs intend to fully re-tool its roster around youth next to Flagg.

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Irving would join Anthony Edwards to create one of the fiercest offensive backcourts in basketball. Minnesota has been a regular contender for a berth in the NBA Finals out of the West, and may try to contact Dallas about Irving being it's final piece to push the Wolves over the top.

"The Timberwolves needed a No. 2 option offensively against San Antonio to prevent the doubles and pressure the Spurs threw at Edwards. [Julius] Randle wasn't up to the task. If Irving is himself next season, Minnesota could have one of the most lethal offensive pairings in the NBA, coupled with the defensive infrastructure provided by Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert," Quinn said. "It's not exactly a haul for Dallas, but the Mavericks shouldn't expect one for a player as risky as Irving. Tim Connelly is as willing to take risks as any general manager in the NBA. There's a clean fit here.

In the swap, Dallas' return would be centered on All-Star forward and DFW native Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, who just tore his Achilles this postseason, and the No. 28 pick in this year's draft along with future picks.

Dallas keeps Irving in the West in this projection, pairing him back up with Durant after their shaky tenure together in Brooklyn. Point guard Fred Van Vleet would headline the Mavs' package, though he is also coming back from an injury that kept him out this entire season. Also included would be "a former fan-favorite for the Mavericks," Dorian Finney-Smith.

"The Rockets had the second-worst per-play half-court offense in the playoffs and ranked 19th on that front in the regular season," Quinn scouts. "Durant and Irving could cover the half-court offense. Their legion of young wings could generate transition offense and rebounding and play defense. It's the obvious sort of move Houston could make to build on last year's flaws."

The Pistons' suffered an early playoff exit after ending the regular season with the East's best record behind first-team All-NBAer Cade Cunningham. Irving's addition would help Cunningham develop, Quinn says, because he "would absolutely benefit from sharing the ball-handling load."

"Ujiri has a historic affinity for athletic wings, and former No. 5 overall pick Ron Holland fell out of the rotation in the playoffs," Quinn says about a potential package. "That's an interesting starting point if the Pistons prefer to keep most of their draft capital."

No, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo likely wouldn't be featured here, but one of their three upcoming first-round picks could be. This year, Milwaukee sits one spot below Dallas in Round 1, at No. 10 overall.

However, Quinn suggests future picks in 2031 and/or 2033 would be the ones on the move. "The Bucks would be far from flawless at that point. Perimeter defense would still be an issue, as would front-court depth," Quinn said about the idea of a late rebuild around Giannis.

"Irving and Antetokounmpo are both enormous injury risks. Myles Turner had an enormously disappointing first season in Milwaukee. But the basic formula here would be pretty interesting. Antetokounmpo, another star scorer, a lot of shooting and strong rim-protection? That's at least a starting point for a competitive team if everything goes right."

Would Ujiri do business with his former employers? Toronto has a crop of dumpable contracts to dish out that would match financials.

"[Ujiri] might be a bit more open-minded about taking on players like Immanuel Quickley, Brandon Ingram or Jakob Poeltl than other general managers would be, and while the Anthony Davis trade returned little in the way of assets, it completely cleared Dallas' books of bad money," Quinn says.

"The Mavericks can afford to take on bad money for the right attached assets. They have three cheap years of Cooper Flagg's rookie deal left. If Ujiri wants any of his former Raptors acquisitions back, this is a path to getting them."

In the end, Irving remains one of the top offensive threats among NBA point guards when healthy. Dallas clearly sees that value, meaning a trade likely won't come until mid-season after the team gets to assess his return from injury.

"Kevin Durant once told me that there's only one Kyrie walking around in the world," Ujiri said.

"I think we have to figure out a way how Kyrie fits with our program. I've had those conversations with Kyrie, up 'till yesterday, and I think Kyrie will fit. I've said it before: there's a huge curiosity in our minds to see how Kyrie fits playing with Cooper Flagg. He's just that kind of incredible talent and player, and I think we owe this organization that."