Kyrie Irving’s short stint with the Dallas Mavericks didn’t go as planned.
When the Mavs acquired him at the NBA Trade Deadline, the hope was that Irving would pair up with Luka Doncic to form one of the league’s more formidable duos.
The blueprint for what their partnership was supposed to look like was Doncic and Jalen Brunson one year earlier. They made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals together.
Unfortunately, Doncic and Irving had less success. Things got so bad, in fact, that they didn’t even make the playoffs this season.
Complicating matters even further is the fact that Irving is an unrestricted free agent this summer. That means, after everything Dallas gave up for him, he could just walk away elsewhere.
This week, Irving shared a cryptic Instagram Story that some believe hints at his future plans.
Kyrie has a message on his story 👀#MFFL pic.twitter.com/LpnQJ170Tu
— MFFL (@Mavs_FFL) April 14, 2023
While the post was undeniably ambiguous, Mavericks fans seem to believe that it is a signal Irving plans to return to Dallas next year.
This gives me confidence he’s coming back
— Frankie Jay (@FrankieJay__) April 14, 2023
I’m just glad he’s wearing a Mavs jersey in the post
— Hussain H (@hussainh1) April 14, 2023
He’s coming back. I didn’t like the trade in the first place, but Mavs are now in a position where they almost HAVE to bring him back, and while I don’t know for sure, I think he genuinely liked his short stint with the Mavs. I’d bet a house…not necessarily mine, he returns
— A. Dude (@upacrick) April 15, 2023
There have been a lot of reports about where Irving would prefer to land next season.
This speculation is just more of the same.
Yet another reason to light the beam. https://t.co/tqPwdkhBDK
— Game 7 (@game7__) April 16, 2023
Until he actually comes out and says something definitive, it is all just conjecture.
That said, do the Mavericks make the most sense for Irving when you account for what they can offer contract-wise and opportunity-wise? Absolutely.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
