Kyrie Irving: we already named a city after him!

[KillerLeft]

The quote from Stein:

"No one in Dallas will come out and say it in these terms, obviously, but Irving is potentially just a rental."

He said there is no contract promise from either party at this point. 

And based on all the tea leaves, I think Kyrie walks to LAL (who can get to around $25M in space this summer) or signs a 4 year max with the Mavs before forcing his way out.

I share your distaste for the cost of this deal, and obviously I wouldn't have done it. 

BUT, I think you're worried about nothing with this particular thread. The point of the trade request was to get a 4-year max. He can now only get that from Dallas or from the 2-3 teams who might have cap room next summer. LA won't be one of them, and he's not going to sign for the MLE. 

If they decide to offer the 4-year max (my strong suspicion is that they already have decided) then I'd say there's an 85-100% chance he signs it. It's what starts to happen the very next day that should worry you, imho. 

If he's dead set on getting to LA, and the Lakers want to give him that deal, I bet the Mavs can get ONE of those two 1sts out of LA to make that happen. He is NOT going to sign the MLE.