Kyrie Irving gets brutally honest about true winner of Nets-Mavericks trade
Today at 10:41 PM
Kyrie Irving is in his second full season with the Dallas Mavericks after the 2023 trade with the Brooklyn Nets that brought him to Dallas. With the NBA trade deadline approaching, the anniversary of Irving being acquired by the Mavericks is also approaching. Following the Mavericks win against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, Kyrie Irving jokingly reflected on the trade that brought him from the Nets, as per Noah Weber of The Smoking Cuban.
Irving was answering a question about PJ Washington, whose trade anniversary is coming up as well. The Mavericks acquired Washington at the 2024 NBA trade deadline. Before getting to the question, Irving decided to show some humor when speaking about his own trade.
"I think I was the eighth, right? So my anniversary is coming up too," Irving said. "Best trade in the business, baby! We won that trade, we won that trade! I was bad goods."
The deal has certainly worked out in the Mavericks favor. While they did not make the playoffs in the immediacy after the Irving trade, they reached the NBA Finals last year for the first time since 2011.
Since being acquired by the Mavericks, Irving has appeared in 110 games. He's averaged 25.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.3 steals with splits of 49.5 percent shooting from the field, 41.3 percent shooting from the three-point line and 91.2 percent shooting from the three-point line.
During the Mavericks' 2024 playoff run, Irving averaged 22.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.0 steals with splits of 46.7 percent shooting from the field, 39 percent shooting from the three-point line and 84.9 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
The full parameters of the trade included Irving and Markieff Morris being traded to the Mavericks with Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and several draft picks being sent to the Nets. Dinwiddie has since found his way back to the Mavericks while Finney-Smith was recently traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.
When Irving initially signed with the Nets as a free agent in the 2019 offseason, it was alongside Kevin Durant as they formed one of the most formidable duos in the NBA. The prevailing thought was the Nets were on their way to title contention. That was reinforced even more so when the Nets traded for James Harden to form a new Big 3.
But the trio's time in Brooklyn was fueled by disappointment and injury issues. Durant wasn't able to make his Nets debut until the 2020-21 season as he recovered from an ACL injury. Irving dealt with his own injury issues and missed the final few games of the Nets' 2021 playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The post Kyrie Irving gets brutally honest about true winner of Nets-Mavericks trade appeared first on ClutchPoints.
