Mavs' 'Trade Kyrie Irving' Talk Takes On Different Tone After Solid Start To Season

DALLAS - Nobody knew what this Mavericks season was going to be.

A new president, a new general manager, a first-time NBA head coach, a roster where half the rotation arrived in July and a 34-year-old guard returning from a torn ACL that cost him an entire year. Projections landed in the low 30s for wins. The national conversation centered almost entirely on when Dallas would start selling.

Kyrie Irving was always the first name in that conversation. Every few weeks over the summer, another scenario surfaced with the premise always the same. If the Mavericks were not competing for a playoff spot by February, Irving would be the asset a contender came calling for.

READ MORE: Mavs' Kyrie Irving in 'Good Place' in Knee Recovery

Six games in, that premise looked shaky.

Seven games in, we have more evidence of a truth.

Dallas sat at 4-2 after rallying past Houston 116-111 on Friday night, a game in which Irving scored 35 points in his best performance since the injury. Cooper Flagg added 33. The Mavericks have won four of five since an ugly season opener in Houston.

And then came a Monday night loss to the lowly Kings in which Kyrie sat out as part of a "management issue.''

And all that proved was just how valuable he is.

Tim MacMahon addressed the situation on The Hoop Collective this week, and his assessment differed notably from the summer reporting.

“I talked to Kyrie a little bit the other night, just walking out and Cooper being this good and this comfortable, like bringing the ball up the floor, initiating offense and all that, it takes a lot of pressure off him and it takes a lot of strain off him,” MacMahon said. “And like Kyrie, I think is very, very happy and comfortable with his situation in Dallas.”

He added the necessary warning.

“It doesn’t mean, you know, he doesn’t get to necessarily decide whether he’s going to, but I’m just telling you, he’s very, very comfortable.”

The part MacMahon identified about Flagg matters more than it might seem. Irving spent his entire career as the player responsible for generating offense when nothing else worked and doing that at 34 while rebuilding a knee is a difficult assignment. Flagg has taken over much of the initiation, averaging close to seven assists per game and handling the ball up the floor. That lets Irving pick his spots instead of carrying every possession.

There is also a roster-building argument for standing pat that has nothing to do with sentiment.

READ MORE: Perfect 'Pickle': The Truth About Mavs' Kyrie Irving & Cooper Flagg Combo

The current draft lottery structure makes tanking a considerably worse proposition than it used to be. The bottom three teams share identical odds, and the flattened probabilities mean a team can lose 60 games and still miss the top four. Trading productive players for the chance at a slightly better lottery position is a bad trade in the modern system, particularly for a franchise that already has its cornerstone.

The front office spent the summer surrounding Cooper Flagg with young pieces who are improving in real time, and several have already made meaningful contributions.

Breaking that up to chase marginal draft capital would undercut the entire plan.

But the case for moving him was always conditional on the Mavericks being bad. Right now, they are not and the player at the center of the speculation sounds like someone with no interest in leaving.