Kyrie Irving spent the offseason leading the Mavericks despite constant trade speculation and Dallas has a clear reason to let the experiment play out.
DALLAS - No Maverick generated more offseason noise than Kyrie Irving. Trade scenarios surfaced constantly, LeBron James reportedly pushed a team to acquire him before signing elsewhere and every few weeks another rumor appeared and dissolved without going anywhere. None of it came from inside the organization, which only made the speculation louder.
Irving spent that time doing something else entirely. He organized a players-only minicamp in California ahead of training camp, bringing the roster together before formal work begins next week. Eighteen months removed from his last NBA game, he is already back in the role that defined his best stretch in Dallas.
Tim MacMahon described exactly that on a recent NBA Today segment.
"Really, he returns to the role that he had when Luka was in Dallas and that is the co-star and the vocal leader of the team, the voice in the locker room, the veteran that all these guys look up to and want to listen to," MacMahon said. "But, I'll tell you, the question that's being asked around the league is, for how long?"
He then explained why the question exists and it has nothing to do with dysfunction.
"How long is this fit with Kyrie and the Mavericks? And it's not because the Mavericks don't love Kyrie, they do. It's not because Kyrie doesn't love Dallas and hasn't enjoyed his experience there, by and large. He has," MacMahon said. "But, they're building around a 19-year-old prodigy in Cooper Flagg. So, could there come a time when it makes sense for both sides to find a contender for Kyrie to go to? These are the kind of things that people around the league will be monitoring leading up to the trade deadline."
But there is a scenario where none of it matters this season and it hinges on Dallas simply being good.
If the Mavericks exceed expectations and find themselves competing for a playoff spot, moving Irving becomes considerably harder to justify. A front office does not trade its second-best player while the team is winning, particularly when that player is helping take pressure off a young star. Flagg benefits from having a co-star who can create offense and Dusty May benefits from having a veteran running his locker room in his first NBA season.
The structure of Irving's contract makes waiting a viable option, too. He holds a player option for the 2027-28 season, which means Dallas retains control beyond this year if it chooses to. Given how consistently Irving has spoken about his affection for Dallas and given that the organization gave him a clean slate after a turbulent stretch of his career, opting in remains a possibility if he is still here.
That creates a longer runway than the current speculation suggests. The Mavericks could let this season play out, evaluate how Flagg and Irving actually fit together over 82 games and revisit the question next summer with the same asset still on the roster.
There is risk in waiting, of course. Irving turns 35 in March and trade value for a guard that age tends to move in one direction. Another injury would change the conversation entirely. The safest time to sell is usually before anyone asks why you did not sell sooner.
The counterargument is that Dallas does not need to maximize a return. Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz have built a roster around Flagg's timeline while keeping enough veteran talent to compete now and Irving is the piece that makes both things possible at once.
