Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[DanSchwartzgan]

My timeline is flooded with Kyrie and Minnesota T-Wolves rumors. None of it credible of course... but because it's a slow news day, I went through what a trade would look like without the obvious (Julius Randle) outgoing. More or less what I would find acceptable while also being somewhat realistic.

MIN: Kyrie Irving, AJ Johnson
DAL: Naz Reid, Donte DiVincenzo, Ayo Dosunmu (SnT), 2033 FRP

First, Ayo is an unrestricted free agent. Free to sign with any team he wants. The assumption here is that he would love to play with Flagg. With Kyrie in the outgoing, he would get a starting spot and hopefully take a massive leap. For this trade scenario, I have him slotted at $18M/yr., which is higher than the MLE most teams can offer.

Second, Donte will be out for the season due to a torn Achilles suffered in the first round. His expiring contract is taken on by Dallas to help Minny with their financial situation so that they can replace that slot with a player that will help them "win now".

Third, Naz Reid is the 'prize' here and probably the least likely inclusion in this hypothetical. There is some thought to his upside being capped there with Randle, McDaniels, and Gobert getting a ton of the frontcourt minutes and I'm doing a non-Randle Minny trade for Kyrie after all. Still, just 26 years old and an excellent stretch Big that plays both ways. I think there's still more to his game that can get unlocked playing alongside Flagg.

Lastly, the 2033 FRP is the only tradable first the T-Wolves have this summer. I can't trade Kyrie unless it's included. Not that I care about a pick 7 years from now, but with the lottery changes and Kyrie no longer playing by then, it has a lot of perceived value.


As a huge Kyrie fan, one that thinks having him here next season would be huge for Flagg's development, this feels like the type of deal I could say yes to. Does that make it highly unlikely? Sure. But when people talk about trading Kyrie because he's the best asset the Mavs have to trade, this is the kind of deal they should be talking about IMO.

I saw you posted something similar in the Discord this morning except it had the 26th pick in the deal.  Obviously that can't work in June with Ayo's S&T not being guaranteed to happen and not under either team's control.  

I'm not sure they would want to send out DiVincenzo as he's valuable and would likely be back in time for the playoffs.  Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have him.  It is easy enough to construct (and simplify) the deal without him.  I also think there's a better chance of getting an unprotected swap in 2030 than there is of getting an outright pick in 33.

I hear the criticism that we could just sign Ayo ourselves and therefore the deal is really just Naz and the pick.  But that isn't accurate unless Ayo is willing to sign for the MLE.  I think it will cost more than that and if it does, Minnesota has to cooperate.  He has a good role there and if the money is better than the MLE, there is no reason to believe he'd force his way to Dallas.  I think we disussed something similar last week...probably with DiVincenzo as I like him.  I'm with you...no Randal please.