Kyrie Irving trade speculation may not disappear for Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks insist they still believe in a future built around Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg.

Frankly, it’s easy to understand why.

A healthy Kyrie alongside one of the NBA’s brightest young stars sounds pretty good on paper. New GM Mike Schmitz recently called the potential pairing “a match made in heaven,” while team president Masai Ujiri said, “There is only one Kyrie walking around in the world.”

That much is for certain. But this is also where things get interesting for Dallas.

Because even while publicly embracing the Irving-Flagg idea, the Mavericks almost have to at least explore what a Kyrie trade market might look like behind the scenes — especially after ESPN insider Shams Charania reported that multiple contenders are monitoring Irving’s situation.

And in today’s NBA, these conversations happen all the time.

One speculative scenario floated recently by Sports Illustrated involved the Atlanta Hawks acquiring Irving in exchange for young talent and future first-round picks. The players involved are almost secondary to the real attraction here: draft capital.

Dallas already accelerated its timeline by landing Flagg. But after this draft, the Mavericks don’t exactly own a treasure chest of future first-rounders.

That could mean something. 

Especially in a Western Conference where the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder suddenly look built to dominate for years.

Trading Irving probably makes Dallas worse in the short term. Maybe significantly worse.

But if the Mavericks truly are thinking “future-based,” as Ujiri recently suggested, then at least discussing bigger-picture possibilities probably isn’t the craziest idea in the world anymore.