5 Winners and losers of the Kyrie Irving trade
By Ari Schwartz
Winner: Kyrie Irving
Irving is landing in Dallas, where he will play next to one of the NBA’s best players, who can only get better from here on out. He still has a ton of responsibility as the Mavs’ only elite offensive weapon outside of Doncic and has a chance to contend for a title on a team that you would assume is willing to offer him a long-term contract after trading significant assets to land him.
What some may be questioning, however, is why Irving requested a trade from the Nets in the first place, a franchise that offers each of the things mentioned above just as much if not more than Dallas.
Well, according to The Athletic, Irving was offered a four-year extension by Brooklyn, but it included guarantee stipulations that Irving was clearly unhappy about, as he obviously declined the offer and soon requested a trade.
Next. 3 Ripple effects of the Irving trade on the Lakers. dark
Even if Joe Tsai refused to let Irving go to his preferred destination, probably because of all the turbulence Irving has caused the franchise in his four years as a Net, he got pretty lucky landing in a situation similar to the one he was already in. Additionally, Dallas will most likely be willing to offer him the contract he’s looking for considering what it gave up.