Inside the Kyrie Irving trade negotiations: Why the Mavericks beat out Lakers, Suns and other offers

Inside the Kyrie Irving trade negotiations: Why the Mavericks beat out Lakers, Suns and other offers

Shams Charania
Feb 6, 2023

When Kyrie Irving demanded a trade from the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, a league-altering domino fell and shook up the marketplace, causing a shockwave across the league and an arms race to get underway. It would pit several of the league’s teams looking for that one difference-making piece that could get them to the top of the list of title contenders against each other.

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As soon as Irving’s trade request became known, the Nets had a handful of serious suitors come their way, including the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and LA Clippers. After receiving a series of offers, from those teams and others, the Nets struck a deal with the Mavericks on Sunday, sending Irving along with Markieff Morris to Dallas for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 first-round pick and two second-rounders in 2027 and 2029, according to league sources, who like all of the sources in this story were granted anonymity so that they could speak freely.

After a turbulent opening month of the NBA season that included an eight-game suspension from the Nets due to his promotion of an anti-Semitic documentary and repeated refusal to apologize, Irving has once again emerged as a difference maker of the Association: an NBA All-Star for the eighth time with season averages of 27.1 points, 5.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds in 40 games so far.

Irving’s trade request stunned the NBA, as he and Kevin Durant were in the midst of their best stretch as a duo since joining Brooklyn in 2019 and the Nets had emerged as a contender in the Eastern Conference. But Irving asked out due to principle issues with the franchise, with league sources telling The Athletic that there were unsalvageable differences that had him headed toward a separation, regardless of what the Nets offered in contract extension talks over the past week.

For the Mavericks, the move — stamped by owner Mark Cuban and general manager Nico Harrison as well as coach Jason Kidd — pairs the eight-time All-Star Irving with MVP candidate Luka Dončić. Dallas has been coveting an elite talent to pair with Dončić, and team sources say that they believe their organization’s culture and environment will be an ideal fit for Irving.

The Nets ultimately landed on the Mavericks’ final offer being the best for them among all of the rest, but while the process of Irving’s trade sweepstakes may have all seemed like a weekend blur, it actually really began eight months ago.


The Lakers and Irving seemed to be the most obvious match, with Irving last summer desiring a reunion with former Cleveland Cavaliers championship teammate LeBron James and having a special interest in playing in a Lakers backcourt that would allow him to follow in the legendary footsteps of Kobe Bryant. Lakers officials became aware of Irving’s desire to join the franchise last summer, and quickly emerged as a known suitor back then.

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In the days after Irving and the Nets reached an impasse in contract extension negotiations last June, the Lakers requested and received permission from Brooklyn to speak to Irving’s representatives, according to league sources. Those around Irving believed that this could be the first step toward a potential trade scenario between the two teams. The Lakers and Vice President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka were given the OK to talk to Irving’s agent, Shetellia Riley Irving; however, Riley Irving did not hear from any member of the Lakers front office, sources said.

Those sources added that the Nets were open to listening to offers across the league for Irving at that point, but the Lakers were informed that they did not have a suitable deal with the $47 million expiring contract of Russell Westbrook. It meant that the Lakers would only have engaged in further negotiations for Irving if he would decline his $37 million player option and signed a deal for a mid-level exception, but they ultimately did not believe he would do so.

(Matteo Marchi/Getty Images)

On June 27, Irving decided to opt into the final year of his Nets contract to return to the franchise. The Lakers reached out to the Nets again in early July regarding a package around draft compensations, but Brooklyn made clear that it was not open to moving Irving. The sides met again during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, with no traction or movement on the Nets’ stance.

Then on Oct. 27, Irving posted a link to a movie that contained anti-Semitic material, leading to serious questions about his NBA future. After meeting with the media on Oct. 29 and Nov. 3 and failing to unequivocally apologize for promoting the film, he was suspended by the Nets. He met with NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Nov. 8, and owner Joe Tsai gave Irving a list of six action items he needed to complete before his return to the court.

Throughout that process, the Nets were viewed among rival teams as open to trading Irving. The Lakers once again registered interest, sources said, but teams across the league were hesitant on making offers for a player who was in the middle of such a controversy.

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Following a return-to-play process that included meeting with Jewish community leaders, donations and satisfying the demands of the Nets and the league, Irving was cleared to return on Nov. 20 against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Nets were 7-9 entering the game, struggling to generate support for Durant and needing Irving to deliver on the court consistently. The Nets went on to win 20 of their next 24 games and were competing for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but lost Durant to an MCL sprain on Jan. 8 in Miami. They have gone 5-7 since.

Irving’s request on Friday gave the Lakers yet another opportunity to capitalize. This time, unlike the offseason and in November, the Lakers had built a strong belief that a move could happen to take them over the top this season. Although Irving did not give the Nets a list of preferred destinations, it is believed he would have welcomed a deal to Los Angeles. With LeBron James playing at an elite level at the age of 38 and Anthony Davis healthy and finding his dominant level again, the Lakers had an opportunity to go all in on Irving.

The Lakers offered the Nets a package of Westbrook and two first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 for Irving in the last two days, sources with knowledge of the discussions said — to which the Nets informed the Lakers that in order to make an offer to get in the Irving sweepstakes they would require all of their young players such as Austin Reaves and Max Christie and pick swaps in addition to Westbrook and the two first-round picks.

The Nets ultimately moved on from a possible Lakers framework to choose Dallas.


With new owner Mat Ishbia set to take over the Suns this upcoming week, Phoenix has emerged as an intriguing organization to monitor ahead of the Feb. 9 deadline. The Suns want to continue building around All-NBA star Devin Booker, center Deandre Ayton and forwards Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson. However, the future of Chris Paul is uncertain beyond this season as Paul has a partial guarantee of half of his salary for next season.

The Suns are known as a potential suitor for Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet, but once Irving became available, Phoenix shifted its focus to the Irving market.

(Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)

Phoenix offered a package around Paul, Jae Crowder and one first-round pick, sources said. The offer was made within the first 18 hours of Irving’s trade request, and it’s believed that three first-round picks could have clinched a deal, multiple league sources said. However, the Suns never added those picks and failed to make a better offer, beginning to lose interest in a trade for Irving as time went on.

The Suns are expected to be incredibly active over the next several days to add to the roster, as Ishbia is expected to be a resourceful, open-minded team owner.


In the end, it was the Mavericks that stood firm with the level of players that the Nets desired in a potential trade — a lead guard in Dinwiddie who has shown the ability to be a No. 1 or 2 option on any given night, a do-it-all utility player in Finney-Smith and draft compensation. The Nets now have three first-rounders to use via trade, as well as several players who could garner interest across the league. Rival executives expect Brooklyn to canvass the market for deals to surround Durant with more talent.

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Irving is now a Maverick, with a fresh, clean slate and an organization ready to embrace him. His ability to connect with Dončić on and off the floor will be critical for Dallas, but there’s confidence in the desire of both to win and play alongside one another as well as the personnel guiding the organization in Cuban, Mavericks CEO Cynthia Marshall, Harrison and Kidd.

That desire to win now in Dallas was never more evident than it was in winning the race for Kyrie.


More Kyrie Irving trade coverage

Trade grades: Mavericks take big swing; Nets hope they’ve added enough

Schiffer: Nets’ trade of Kyrie Irving to Mavs ends an era of unfulfilled expectations and controversy

Live updates: The latest on Kyrie and other NBA trade rumors

Deadline Big Board: Anunoby, Kuzma, VanVleet the next names on the list


 (Photo Kyrie Irving: Dustin Satloff/Getty Images; Art by Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic)

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Shams Charania

Shams Charania is the Senior NBA Insider for The Athletic. He is also an NBA analyst for Stadium. From 2015-18, Shams was the national NBA Insider for Yahoo Sports. Follow Shams on Twitter @ShamsCharania