Kyrie Irving’s trade to the Dallas Mavericks was made official on Monday as the franchise guns for an NBA title with the star guard alongside Luka Doncic.
The Mavs confirmed the trade, with Irving along with Markieff Morris heading to Dallas in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and a bunch of future Draft picks to the Brooklyn Nets.
“He’s won everywhere he’s gone,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “We feel like the talent and his abilities to make us better are something that we needed.
“We feel that getting him is going to help put us in a position to win a championship.
“To have two starters that are going to start in the All-Star Game for the Mavs is probably a first. It’s exciting. We have to be excited about this opportunity.
“It’s easy to look at all the talk of the negative. But let’s look at the positive and what he’s done on and off the court and that’s the way we’re approaching it.”
Irving has been the centre of repeated controversy during his time with the Nets, involving his refusal to be vaccinated forcing him out of a half of last season, while there was this season’s anti-semitism drama too.
But Dallas are clearly gunning for an NBA title, potentially their first since their only crown in 2011, focusing on the 30-year-old point guard’s on-court assets. Irving is a one-time NBA champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.
“We’re still going to preach defense, being able to get stops, but there are going to be nights when were going to try to make you feel uncomfortable on the offensive end,” Kidd said.
“If were scoring 130 or 140, some nights youre going to have to use the offense as your defense. But Ky’s going to compete on the defensive end. Luka’s going to compete on the defensive end. And for us, it’s about rebounding. That’s one of the areas we’ve struggled.
“But when you look at the offensive end, can we put pressure on the opponent and are they going to be comfortable trying to score that many points.”
