Irving ready to keep chasing titles in Dallas after NBA Finals loss to Celtics
DALLAS (AP)— Kyrie Irving is a year away from having the choice to leave the Dallas Mavericks, and he would be nearing the end of his longest time anywhere since asking to leave Cleveland, where he was drafted, in 2017. Nonetheless, the mercurial guard sounded as if Dallas may be his basketball home way beyond 2025 after losing the NBA Finals in five games to the Boston Celtics in his first full season with co-star Luka Doncic.
“I see an opportunity for us to really build our future in a positive way, where this is almost like a regular thing for us, and we’re competing for championships,” Irving said following Dallas’ 106-88 loss in Game 5. Irving left Boston in free agency in 2019 and has been booed by Celtics fans ever since. His three and a half years in Brooklyn were plagued with primarily self-inflicted controversy, to the point where he finally asked for a trade after doing the same to break away from LeBron James and the Cavaliers.
the Mavericks acquired the eight-time All-Star at the deadline last year, Irving’s reputation throughout the league was shattered. Things have changed in the past 16 months. “From a spiritual standpoint, I think I enjoyed this journey more than any other season, just because of the redemption arc and being able to learn as much as I did about myself and my teammates and the organization and the people that I’m around,” Irving stated. “It’s a lot of good people here, so it makes coming to work a lot of fun.”
Doncic’s player option is one year after Irving’s, following the 2025-26 season. Except for guard Derrick Jones Jr., every other rotation player in the playoffs has a contract for next season. The Mavericks don’t have much wiggle room under the salary cap, but they will have to consider whether a more dangerous third scoring option is the missing piece.
Doncic, 25, is entering his peak in a challenging Western Conference, having made at least two visits to the finals in the previous three seasons. But Dallas was a surprise both times and couldn’t hang on for more than five games. The next phase would be reaching to this point without being surprised, possibly as the favorite to win the title.
Such growth may be required to keep Irving and Doncic together after 2025-26, or to keep Doncic in Dallas for as long as retiring great Dirk Nowitzki did — a record 21 seasons with the same team. “When you have one of the best players in the world,” coach Jason Kidd stated, “you should always be fighting for a championship.”
While Irving and Doncic played the entire season, the Mavs like to boast about their five-month stint together. That’s when trade-deadline additions Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington arrived, helping Dallas develop a defensive attitude that was critical to its deep playoff run. Last November, the talk was a complete reset for Doncic and Irving. In 3 1/2 months, the conversation will be about Gafford, Washington, and emerging 7-foot-1 star Dereck Lively II, Dallas’ rookie first-round choice, spending their first training camp together.
“We executed some fantastic moves,” said Doncic, who earned his first scoring title. “I’d say we’ve been together about five months. We didn’t win the finals, but we had a fantastic season.” If the Mavs do not sign a starter this offseason, Irving, 32, will be the only player over the age of 26 in the lineup. Lively won’t turn 21 until February.
Maxi Kleber, a 32-year-old with seven seasons of NBA experience, is the other 30-something who could join the rotation. Tim Hardaway Jr. is the same age, buthe fell out of the rotation late in the season, leaving his role uncertain with one year left on his deal. “We’re a young team, and so this isn’t a team when you look at do we have to replace some of the older players,” Kidd stated. “We have a core, a youthful core, and it’s an exciting time to be a Mavs fan and a Mavs coach.
Irving, the “old guy” in Dallas, does not appear to want to be replaced anytime soon. “When you really love something, you really want to win and it doesn’t happen, how do you respond from that?” Irving asked. “I think I could tell you I’m pretty confident that we’ll be back in the gym pretty soon and getting ready for next year.”
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