A potential Dallas departure sparks questions about pairing the mercurial star with Devin Booker. Can Irving’s elite scoring outweigh his massive contract and significant injury history?
The future of the Phoenix Suns still hinges on moves that the organization makes over the next 18-24 months.
While the Suns are no longer in the "worst" spot in the NBA, they must do more to build a true contender and make the most of G Devin Booker's remaining prime years.
ESPN's Tim MacMahon seems to believe that the door is open for the Dallas Mavericks and star guard Kyrie Irving to part ways - which begs the question - should Phoenix kick the tires on a potential trade?
There are a small handful of reasons that make this pairing an intriguing one. This includes giving Booker a quality co-star (if not a complete "pure" point guard), allowing for the 29-year-old franchise player to return to a more natural off-ball role.
Beyond this, Irving is a safe bet to be the Suns' second-leading scorer, providing more stability for an offense that has potential to be volatile in 2026-27. The point guard is also well-positioned to serve as an apt mentor for younger guards on the roster, including Collin Gillespie.
While Irving stabilizes the offense and raises Phoenix's ceiling on paper, there are clear downsides to making such an ambitious move. The chief of concerns reside in Irving's contract, which is in-line to be over $80 million over the next two seasons, which reconciles with his lengthy injury history.
This includes just 108 games played over the last three-and-half years in Dallas. It's simply challenging to commit trading away more resources and time into attempting to make something work that isn't guaranteed to do so.
While trading away Jalen Green (similar contract to Irving) seems to make sense as a short-term fix in this scenario, it's reasonable to stake the claim that GM Brian Gregory is better off banking on internal development, while simultaneously keeping options open to make more significant upgrades in the near future.
Yes, Irving is a natural fit alongside Booker. He is also a player who has been long linked to Phoenix. Despite this, forcing to push the timeline forward has a strong chance to backfire, as it did several years ago with the Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal experiment.
As for the team that is in tow heading into the season - the Suns are preparing to open up training camp within the next week ahead of the October 5 preseason opener.
