02-03-2023, 09:07 PM
I have to think that a Mavs trade for Kyrie would only happen if
1 he agreed to an extend-and-trade, in which he adds 2 years (at about 39M avg), so that it's not a rental
... for all the desire by Irving to get a max deal, it's hard to imagine where he can go to get that offer in free agency, because of the massive amount of cap room required ... so the team inquiring about him in trade needs to use the leverage of the moment and get a longer commitment than 2 months
2 the Mavs give up SD + THJ + an asset
... imo Mavs would not add an ongoing commitment to Irving without moving off of some longer-term money from their payroll sheet -- ie, THJ's future $34M (or the combo of Bertans-McGee, which is about the same total future dollars).
If the Mavs got ALL of that, I can see them adding a future 1st with some protections.
The challenges are
1 BKN is in the running and wants to win. Now. Almost certainly they will expect at least 1 player who will make them win now. They can't afford to screw KD.
2 LAL is a real threat, because they have matching expiring salary (Westbrook) and side assets (the future 1sts) to offer. But that combo doesn't satisfy KD now. Part of the LAL equation is that they can't give Irving a max salary offer in free agency in the summer (assuming they have both LBJ and AD) -- then again, hard to see where someone else can (or would) either.
1 he agreed to an extend-and-trade, in which he adds 2 years (at about 39M avg), so that it's not a rental
... for all the desire by Irving to get a max deal, it's hard to imagine where he can go to get that offer in free agency, because of the massive amount of cap room required ... so the team inquiring about him in trade needs to use the leverage of the moment and get a longer commitment than 2 months
2 the Mavs give up SD + THJ + an asset
... imo Mavs would not add an ongoing commitment to Irving without moving off of some longer-term money from their payroll sheet -- ie, THJ's future $34M (or the combo of Bertans-McGee, which is about the same total future dollars).
If the Mavs got ALL of that, I can see them adding a future 1st with some protections.
The challenges are
1 BKN is in the running and wants to win. Now. Almost certainly they will expect at least 1 player who will make them win now. They can't afford to screw KD.
2 LAL is a real threat, because they have matching expiring salary (Westbrook) and side assets (the future 1sts) to offer. But that combo doesn't satisfy KD now. Part of the LAL equation is that they can't give Irving a max salary offer in free agency in the summer (assuming they have both LBJ and AD) -- then again, hard to see where someone else can (or would) either.