Kyrie Irving: we already named a city after him!

[audiosway]

That, to me, is a matter of when, not if. We have 6 straight years of evidence, each one worse than the previous one, until this season, a contract year. 

I DO think he'll ball out down the stretch this season. There's very little doubt in my mind that this will energize the team, short-term. People are going to pay attention to them again for a while, that's for sure. It's probably going to help Luka's MVP campaign, for those who care, just out of the sheer increase in attention the team gets. 

I don't think the season will be as successful as last year, ultimately, because these trade deadline deals usually don't get until the following season. But, he's talented enough to make me say it's much more possible they get deep into the playoffs than it was yesterday. 

However, if there's a single thought about Irving being "misunderstood" and possibly not causing problems here (or anywhere else) during his next deal, that's just willful ignorance. I took a deep dive on this guy a couple of times over the past year or so, and he has been THE reason all of those situations blew up. Trust me when I say that the happiest team in the NBA tonight is the Brooklyn Nets. As long as KD is willing to give it all another try (not a given, I suppose) their hellish nightmare might finally be over. 

I think a perfect way to play this, from here, might be to ride the "contract year" stretch run wave from Irving and then sign-and-trade him. You'll take an asset loss, for sure, but the franchise can keep flowing FORWARD that way. 

But, I think @"F Gump" has the right of it. I said this the other day, actually, and stand by it: They decided they were ready to bite the bullet and pay the dude BEFORE making this offer, and probably have some type of assurance, at least a superficial, flimsy one, that he's amenable to signing. I think, as Gump has said, that they see him as Luka's costar and are "all in" on him. That certainly seems to be plan A. 

I don't imagine it lasts very long. But, he IS talented.

Nailed it. This is pretty much my thought on it as well. Kyrie is stupid talented. He and Luka can and likely will work together very similar to Kyrie and LeBron in Cleveland. Kyrie will probably be motivated for a little bit before the cracks show. But, let's not pretend that Kyrie is stable. lol.

Thankfully, Kidd seems to be good with handling egos. Hopefully he's good with crazy also.

They need more moves before the deadline. Not big ones. Just a couple of minor moves for 3&D type wings. Morris will be a good add. I like his intensity in the Paint. A little thug now and then is what this team needs.

Losing DFS will hurt defensively. But, the offense needed a boost and Kyrie will definitely do that. That and more. He is a walking bucket and the best ball handler the league has likely ever seen.

All that said, this is exactly the kind of move that they needed to make. They played like they knew they had a ceiling and it wasn't a title. They need a shakeup of the roster. More than anything else it also shows Luka that they will go out and make it happen to get pieces around him.

I didn't like the trade to acquire KP. But, I do like this one. It may bomb but it was a move they needed to make. When you have a guy like Luka you have to take risks. I'm just glad the Mavs seem to have a great psychiatric staff.