Kyrie Irving has been the talk of the town of late. The enigmatic point guard is without a doubt one of the most coveted names in NBA free agency as Kyrie’s future with the Dallas Mavericks hangs in the balance. The Mavs obviously want to keep Kyrie with the squad in order to give his partnership with Luka Doncic at least another run, but at the end of the day, it’s Irving’s decision to make.
Kyrie Irving Intends To Test The Waters Of NBA Free Agency
At this point, the general expectation is that Kyrie will be with the Mavs in 2023-24. However, this is far from guaranteed. As a matter of fact, ESPN’s NBA guru Ramona Shelburne reports that Irving will be meeting with opposing teams to discuss a potential move away from Dallas — a notion that might not bode well with the Mavs:
“Well, how do you get a max contract? You create leverage,” Shelburne said. “From what I’m told from sources close to the situation, he intends to take meetings when free agency opens. Now there are widely held expectations that he returns to Dallas, but what that contract looks like and what happens with these meetings he intends to take when free agency opens is gonna be very interesting.”
This doesn’t necessarily mean that Irving is a goner for the Mavs. This is just Kyrie doing his due diligence. He just wants to see what’s out there available for him, with perhaps the belief that he can always fall back on what Dallas has on the table for him.
Is Kyrie Irving Trying To Create Leverage With The Mavs?
Shelburne also points out an interesting layer to all this. According to the renowned league insider, this could also be a power play for Irving as he tries to squeeze out the best deal from the Mavs. The fact that other teams are showing legitimate interest in potentially poaching him away from Dallas will only give Kyrie more negotiating power once he goes back to the Mavs to finalize an extension.
“From what I’m told, he wants to find a place where he can spend the rest of his career — a place that feels like home,” Shelburne continued. “… It’s not really a lock for him to get that five-year max (contract) that the Dallas Mavericks are in a position to give him.”
.@ramonashelburne reports that Kyrie Irving intends to meet with teams in free agency and is searching for “a place where he can spend the rest of his career, the place that feels like home.” pic.twitter.com/dNWqIqrFKr
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 28, 2023
It sounds like Kyrie Irving is looking for a long-term deal that could potentially last for the remainder of his career. At 31, a five-year contract for Irving will see him through until he’s 36, so it’s very much possible that this is going to be the last big-money deal in the eight-time All-Star’s career.
We’ve all seen how much havoc Kyrie wreaked while he was in the East. The Milwaukee Bucks faced Irving on more than a few occasions. One of their most memorable meetings was during the 2021 NBA Playoffs wherein Irving and the Brooklyn Nets pushed Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks to seven games in the East Semis. If Kevin Durant’s shoe was half a size smaller, then the Bucks would have likely lost that series, and they wouldn’t have been the NBA champs. As such, Milwaukee fans should probably hope that Irving stays out West for the foreseeable future.
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