Dallas Mavericks are odds-on favorite to re-sign Kyrie Irving
By Reid Hanson
The ball is in Kyrie Irving’s court. As far as anyone can tell, Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks are fully prepared to offer what it takes to keep their midseason acquisition in Dallas for the foreseeable future.
For everything that went wrong with the Mavs late in the 2022 season, Kyrie Irving was generally a rousing success. It was the construction of the team and the pieces around the two Dallas scorers that failed so spectacularly. No defense and no rebounding is tough to overcome and it’s something that will be the focus of next season whether Irving stays in Dallas or not.
It’s tough to gauge whether Kyrie Irving intends to come back to the Dallas Mavericks or play elsewhere but the odds support him re-signing.
According to Brett Bodzinski at Bookies.com, odds maker Adam Thompson calculates Irving has a 28.6 percent chance of staying in Dallas. Just edging out the Lakers who have a 22.2 percent chance of signing him. The Clippers have a 20 percent chance so odds also say Irving is heading to L.A. But as far as individual teams, the Dallas Mavericks are in the top spot.
Irving can be a tough read and he skipped his exit interviews so it’s difficult to gauge his attitude following the collapse. The more time that passes, the better so it’s good to put some distance between the latest situation and Irving’s final decision.
It obviously helps that the Mavs can pay their star more than anyone else. It’s why they are likely the favorites today and why they will remain in the conversation up until the end.
The Mavs don’t have a great track record keeping their stars. Last summer they lost Jalen Brunson despite having the same advantages. He never even let the Mavericks counter NY’s offer and seemed to be following his father rather than make it about money. Similarly, Irving could easily opt for a better situation and not be moved by the Dallas Mavericks offer.
Something to keep in mind is Irving’s history of demanding trades in the past. He’s been discontent seemingly everywhere but has been able to move on at will and has not been held to his contract to stay.
Perhaps he doesn’t see a contract as a commitment and will happily take the highest offer knowing he can demand to be traded, almost at will.
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What do you think? Will Irving stay or go?