Will the Dallas Mavericks regret landing Kyrie Irving?

The  Dallas Mavericks were headline-grabbers this week, pulling off a blockbuster trade to bring in Kyrie Irving.

After Mark Cuban pulled the trigger on Sunday’s blockbuster move, many Dallas Mavericks fans grew simultaneously excited and concerned about bringing in a controversial player like Kyrie Irving. He was a superstar and the best player Luka Doncic has ever been matched with in Dallas, but he also had a concerning non-basketball related track record that couldn’t be ignored

Irving had been in the news more for his controversial view points, anti-Semitic comments, COVID vaccines, flat earth beliefs etc, than his play on the court.

It’s well known that Kyrie Irving is one of the more talented and polarizing players in the NBA, on and off the court, and he no doubt makes the Mavs an immediate contender. This doesn’t erase the fact that his tenure on three other teams ended in disaster.

Irving’s time in Cleveland was mostly solid for the Cavs’ franchise, especially when Lebron went to LA to play with the Lakers. His time in Boston was short lived and showed little success not being able to play well with others on top of injuries.

More recently, his stint in Brooklyn had a lot more promise, teaming up with the likes of Kevin Durant and James Harden, the sky was the limit for this team who was favored to make the finals the last two years. This ended with more of the same: Lots of frustration, off the court controversies, injuries and head butting with team personnel ended without any finals appearances for the Nets.

Will his time in Dallas be any different? Chances are it won’t be a happy marriage. A lot of hype at first that will inevitably end poorly. But the key for the Mavs may be to capitalize and make runs at a championship before things sour with their new superstar.

The Mavs gave up a lot in this deal. Two key players and fan favorites along with a first round pick and multiple second rounders. In all honesty though, this was a move they had to make. This team is stuck in purgatory with mediocre players around Luka and no real cap space for a couple of years.

This is absolutely a risk for the Mavs but one that if not taken, might have ended with Luka leaving. Taking this risk may not end in a championship but it should be looked at as a risk worth taking.