Kyrie Irving: we already named a city after him!

[Hypermav]

Windhorst is such a windbag. I am not saying I know what will happen. But, for him to already be hitting that point is ridiculous. Kyrie was visibly irritated when the media wanted to ask about Durant last night.

Again, not saying it won't happen. I just think it's standard clickbait.

Ayton for Irving wouldn't be the worst thing if he left.  Ayton, Luka, Hardy and Green is a young solid core.  PHX would be pretty old with KD, KI, CPme and Booker.  Don't want the Lakers crap.

[Scott41theMavs]

Ayton for Irving wouldn't be the worst thing if he left.  Ayton, Luka, Hardy and Green is a young solid core.  PHX would be pretty old with KD, KI, CPme and Booker.  Don't want the Lakers crap.

Don't forget - the Mavs would have two firsts, a second, swaps, and expiring contracts to offer in trade for any star who became available. If we keep KI, that does more to attract the star. If we sign and trade Kyrie, we would have more trade fodder, or even end up with a Russell (parallel S-n-T) or an Ayton to help us moving forward. Best case is still retaining Kyrie, as upsetting as that would be in the short term to KL and Kamm.

[Tyler]

https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/stat...2878543873

Ayton for Irving sign&trade?

I find it hilarious that ESPN swung from "Kyrie to LA" to "Kyrie to Phoenix" so effortlessly. Also, Kyrie is a teamwrecker for requesting a trade but Durant gets no flack at all for doing the same and the media pushes for other players to follow him. It's like they expect fans to completely ignore each previous narrative.

[ItsGoTime]

Ayton for Irving wouldn't be the worst thing if he left.  Ayton, Luka, Hardy and Green is a young solid core.  PHX would be pretty old with KD, KI, CPme and Booker.  Don't want the Lakers crap.

Suns would need at least 1 pick or the equivalent in an on court player in that case, not to mention more salary than Ayton makes to entice him there. He’s for sure going to the highest bidder, whoever that may be. I can’t see that with the Suns through a competitive trade offer.

[ItsGoTime]

Remember, we got him for half a year for 1 FRP, 2 SRPs and a couple pretty good role players. Even if SnTing players gets you less than the normal cost of a player, a superstar like Kyrie is starts really high in value!

[JCB]

I ain't scared of the Phoenix Suns. The Mavs can definitely get to the championship game this year. Celtics and Bucks are more worthy opponents.

The Suns are just another paper champion. Luka is all in Booker's head. CP3 is ooooooolllllldddd. Ayton and KD are betas. Neither is a team leader.

If we play the Suns then Luka is the best player on the court and Kyrie is the 3rd best player. I like our chances. Beating them this year will be very similar to beating them last year, except that Bridges plays better defense and all around utility than KD does while KD will be taking shot share away from Booker. If Ayton plays then Maxi will be drilling 3s in his face all night long.

Plus I don't think KD has ever beaten the Mavs in the playoffs.

Did I say I like our chances?

[LukaMVP]

We beat kd's team on our way to championship 12 years ago, hopewe can do it again. josh will do well handling him in D as marion did, bullock will play the stevenson role, THJ and hardy will be our JET and JJB. game has changed so having wood in place of TC won't matter, wood's offense will more than offset his weakness in D.

[Tunesquad23]

We beat kd's team on our way to championship 12 years ago, hopewe can do it again. josh will do well handling him in D as marion did, bullock will play the stevenson role, THJ and hardy will be our JET and JJB. game has changed so having wood in place of TC won't matter, wood's offense will more than offset his weakness in D.

Markieff Moriss will be our “custodian.” Aka Brian Cardinal.

[Dundalis]

I ain't scared of the Phoenix Suns. The Mavs can definitely get to the championship game this year. Celtics and Bucks are more worthy opponents.

The Suns are just another paper champion. Luka is all in Booker's head. CP3 is ooooooolllllldddd. Ayton and KD are betas. Neither is a team leader.

If we play the Suns then Luka is the best player on the court and Kyrie is the 3rd best player. I like our chances. Beating them this year will be very similar to beating them last year, except that Bridges plays better defense and all around utility than KD does while KD will be taking shot share away from Booker. If Ayton plays then Maxi will be drilling 3s in his face all night long.

Plus I don't think KD has ever beaten the Mavs in the playoffs.

Did I say I like our chances?

Uh, we barely beat the Suns and that's when our defense was top 10 in the league as opposed to a bottom 6 defense. This is a bit of a homer spin job. Phoenix will be worse defensively, but not near as much worse defensively as we are. We need to rather hope they can't stay healthy, which is actually pretty likely.

Also EVERYONE said he wanted to go the Lakers, now that KD goes to the Suns, he actually always wanted to go to the Suns? Sounds like bullshit. If Im to believe anything, his media comments made it more clear the Lakers were his choice, not the Suns. At least if either of them want him in FA, and Kyrie wants to go there, we will get something for him.

[KillerLeft]

Uh, we barely beat the Suns and that's when our defense was top 10 in the league as opposed to a bottom 6 defense. This is a bit of a homer spin job. Phoenix will be worse defensively, but not near as much worse defensively as we are. We need to rather hope they can't stay healthy, which is actually pretty likely.

Yeah, I feel like people are underestimating the effect that dropping Durant onto that team is going to have. I honestly don't think the Mavs have a chance against a healthy PHX team now.

[mvossman]

Uh, we barely beat the Suns and that's when our defense was top 10 in the league as opposed to a bottom 6 defense. This is a bit of a homer spin job. Phoenix will be worse defensively, but not near as much worse defensively as we are. We need to rather hope they can't stay healthy, which is actually pretty likely.

Also EVERYONE said he wanted to go the Lakers, now that KD goes to the Suns, he actually always wanted to go to the Suns? Sounds like bullshit. If Im to believe anything, his media comments made it more clear the Lakers were his choice, not the Suns. At least if either of them want him in FA, and Kyrie wants to go there, we will get something for him.

Last years team was 14th in defense since the all star break, which is a better indication of who they were after the trade.  This years team currently has a terrible defensive rating, but that is primarily due to their top three defenders being out.  Once we are healthy, I would expect this defense to be roughly the same as last year (bad defender (din) out, bad defender in (Wood), good defender out (Dorian) good defender in (Green)).  This team should be better.  Din and Wood is a wash.  Dorian and Green is a wash.  Kyrie is a different level than Brunson.  We will likely be middle of the pack defensively and one of best offenses in the league.

The Suns got better too, but the question is how much.  Durant is a huge addition, even more so that Kyrie.  But Phonex lost more than Brunson.  From last year they lost Bridges, Johnson and Crowder.  They are no longer a team full off high level defensive wings.  They were top 3 defense last year, but I don't think they will be close to that now.  And Paul is not getting any younger.  I actually think we have closed the gap with them some talent wise.

[KillerLeft]

The Suns got better too, but the question is how much.  Durant is a huge addition, even more so that Kyrie.  But Phonex lost more than Brunson.  From last year they lost Bridges, Johnson and Crowder.  They are no longer a team full of high level defensive wings.  They were top 3 defense last year, but I don't think they will be close to that now.  And Paul is not getting any younger.  I actually think we have closed the gap with them some talent wise.

some interesting thoughts here

[HoosierDaddyKid]

I ain't scared of the Phoenix Suns. The Mavs can definitely get to the championship game this year. Celtics and Bucks are more worthy opponents.

The Suns are just another paper champion. Luka is all in Booker's head. CP3 is ooooooolllllldddd. Ayton and KD are betas. Neither is a team leader.

If we play the Suns then Luka is the best player on the court and Kyrie is the 3rd best player. I like our chances. Beating them this year will be very similar to beating them last year, except that Bridges plays better defense and all around utility than KD does while KD will be taking shot share away from Booker. If Ayton plays then Maxi will be drilling 3s in his face all night long.

Plus I don't think KD has ever beaten the Mavs in the playoffs.

Did I say I like our chances?

Very possible. Anything is. Things could change, they always do, but you're just going to overlook Denver at this point?  You have to go thru them or some other team before you can worry about Milwaukee and Boston. And Maxi hasn't been knocking down the 3 ball as we've been accustomed to the last couple of seasons. Probably due to nagging injuries.  We really don't know how the story ends, but we'll keep reading and watching.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

We beat kd's team on our way to championship 12 years ago, hopewe can do it again. josh will do well handling him in D as marion did, bullock will play the stevenson role, THJ and hardy will be our JET and JJB. game has changed so having wood in place of TC won't matter, wood's offense will more than offset his weakness in D.

Sorry, Josh is a very good defender. Active, good anticipation. But he won't shutdown KD, nobody does. If he's off his game, that's different.  DFS couldn't and he's a vet. Josh is young and aggressive and that plays into KD's hands as he will get the benefit of the whistle from the refs everytime. Josh has to earn his reputation. Just calling it like I see it.

[dirkfansince1998]

Sorry, Josh is a very good defender. Active, good anticipation. But he won't shutdown KD, nobody does. If he's off his game, that's different.  DFS couldn't and he's a vet. Josh is young and aggressive and that plays into KD's hands as he will get the benefit of the whistle from the refs everytime. Josh has to earn his reputation. Just calling it like I see it.

+1
Josh is great and I take overeager defense over low effort without thinking twice but we have seen it over and over again. Smart offensive players can get him in foul trouble.

[KillerLeft]

+1
Josh is great and I take overeager defense over low effort without thinking twice but we have seen it over and over again. Smart offensive players can get him in foul trouble.

Agreed. There's no question he's improving, even in this area, playing with more and more control as time passes. I think we all agree that he's ready for a bigger role.

But we need to understand that the "first time in playoffs wall" is coming at him, top speed.

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/slohoopsfan/status/1...99937?s=61&t=CPpOclEz7a0_qYWkbK-ZTA

https://twitter.com/SloHoopsFan/status/1...48066?s=20&t=bugrsWOaOsFXVzeq8GDjVA

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/CallieCaplan/status/...82048?s=20&t=YkkmUzL7PwCXpMlmgHgB8Q

Luka has spoken

[SleepingHero]

Lots of good questions and responses by the Mavs this afternoon:

https://twitter.com/GrantAfseth/status/1..._nj4otAAAA

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/GrantAfseth/status/1...7Ci4otAAAA

Luka is ready