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Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were teammates on the Brooklyn Nets from 2019 to 2023.
A blockbuster trade proposal has Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant reuniting on the Houston Rockets. Irving and Durant played together on the Brooklyn Nets from 2019 to 2023.
Despite the lack of a starting point guard, the Rockets are playing like contenders with a record of 8-3 entering Monday’s game against the Orlando Magic. Amen Thompson has done a good job filling in for Fred VanVleet, but Alperen Sengun has been the team’s primary playmaker.
That could change later in the season if the Rockets decide to look for a point guard who can be a scoring threat ahead of the playoffs. CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn suggested going after Irving if the Dallas Mavericks decide to blow it up.
Trade Proposal Sends Irving to the Rockets
With the Dallas Mavericks moving on from former general manager Nico Harrison, there’s a chance they could hit the reset button and build around Cooper Flagg. Sam Quinn suggested ways to tear down the Mavericks’ current roster, including trading Kyrie Irving to the Houston Rockets.
Rockets receive: Kyrie Irving
Mavericks receive: Fred VanVleet, Dorian Finney-Smith and 2029 first-round pick (second-most favorable of Mavericks, Suns and Rockets)
“There’s really only one team that makes sense and that’s Houston, where he could reunite with Kevin Durant. The Rockets are already winning without a starting point guard in VanVleet and Dorian Finney-Smith hasn’t debuted yet, so they wouldn’t really miss him in a trade like this. They’re so loaded with picks that they could afford to give up a lesser one to grease the wheels here,” Quinn wrote.
Irving is a proven player in the postseason, though he’s coming off a torn ACL. It’s unclear if he’s going to play this season, but he has made progress in his recovery. He fits right in to what the Rockets need at point guard. He’s even an upgrade from Fred VanVleet, who doesn’t have the same finishing skills as Irving.
On the other hand, the Mavericks get an injured FVV, who has a player option for next season. It perfectly sets up a possible booming cap space scenario in Dallas ahead of a star-studded free agency in the summer of 2027.
Dorian Finney-Smith started his career in Dallas, playing there for six and a half seasons. He was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in the middle of the 2022-23 NBA season as part of the Irving deal to the Mavs. He’s in the first season of a four-year, $52.7 million contract, as per Spotrac.
Mavs Can’t Afford to Trade Irving
While some people want to see the Dallas Mavericks move on, Jaren Boslow of The Smoking Cuban argued about keeping Kyrie Irving. Boslow pointed to Irving’s leadership on and off the court as an important building block to the franchise’s success.
“Having a player who not only understands what it takes to be great on the court but is just as valuable off the court is hard to find, which is exactly why the Mavericks can’t afford to trade him,” Boslow wrote.
Boslow’s take aligns with what NBA on NBC’s Grant Liffmann reported on November 12 regarding the Mavs’ next steps. Liffman shared that Dallas ownership would wait to see how a healthy roster plays out before making a decision on the future of their aging core.
Juan Paolo David Juan Paolo David is a sports journalist covering basketball for Heavy. He has a decade of experience writing about the NBA and WWE. He’s currently based in the Philippines. More about Juan Paolo David
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