Luka Doncic made it no secret that he wanted the Dallas Mavericks to improve their roster ahead of the 2023 NBA Trade Deadline.
A season removed from making the Conference Finals, Dallas is currently 28-26 and sits sixth in the West.
The Christian Wood acquisition from this summer hasn’t produced a ton of value, with him and head coach Jason Kidd beefing and the team looking to deal him ahead of Feb. 9.
Because of all that, it’s easy to see why Dallas felt the need to go all-in on Kyrie Irving – and that is precisely what they did. Over the weekend the team sent Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 first-round pick and two second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for the much-maligned guard.
Given Irving’s polarizing personality, many have wondered what role Doncic played in the move. An answer to that question emerged on Monday.
“The Mavericks also ran the deal for Irving past All-NBA star Luka Doncic, who gave it a nod,” ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported.
“The Mavs can now wait to see how the rest of the season goes before deciding on a new deal for Irving.”
It is worth remembering that Doncic was also extremely enthused about playing alongside Kristaps Porzingis, but it didn’t take long for those two to absolutely hate each other.
Time will tell what happens between Doncic and Irving.
For now, everyone is saying all the right things.
“Kyrie Irving is said to be ‘ecstatic’ about the trade to Dallas Mavericks and ‘looking forward’ to joining forces with Luka Doncic,” Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report tweeted out.
Dallas outbid at least five other teams for Irving’s services. The Los Angeles Lakers’ final trade offer to Brooklyn led to some eyerolls, but some other squads put really respectable offers on the table.
LeBron James’ encounter with a female fan at the Lakers game goes viral. https://t.co/zNDBZrGrtD
— Game 7 (@game7__) February 5, 2023
In the end, the Nets found the Mavericks’ proposal to be the most appealing.
Will Doncic and Irving be able to have the sort of success that the former and Jalen Brunson had last year? One way or the other, time will tell.
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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.
