Kyrie Irving and Mavs agree on
$119M, 3-year deal that aligns with Anthony Davis, AP source says
[June 25, 2025]
By SCHUYLER DIXON
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks and Kyrie Irving have agreed on a
$119 million, three-year contract with the All-Star guard still
recovering from a torn ACL that will sideline him into the 2025-26
season, a person with knowledge of the deal said Tuesday night.
Irving is declining the $43 million player option in the final year
of his current three-year contract, the person told The Associated
Press on condition of anonymity because the deal isn’t expected to
be finalized until the start of the new league year on July 6.
The new contract will align Irving with co-star Anthony Davis, who
joined the Mavericks in the seismic trade that sent Luka Doncic to
the Los Angeles Lakers in February. Davis has three years remaining
on his contract, with a player option that now will be the same
season as Irving in 2027-28.
The agreement with Irving came on the eve of the NBA draft, with the
Mavericks poised to take former Duke star Cooper Flagg with the No.
1 overall pick after winning the draft lottery despite having just a
1.8% chance to do so.
Irving also is a Duke alum, as is young center Dereck Lively II.
Once the nine-time All-Star returns from his injury, perhaps in
December or January, all three among Irving, Lively and Flagg figure
to be in the starting lineup if they are healthy.
The 33-year-old Irving came to the Mavericks in a 2023 trade after a
tumultuous tenure in Brooklyn. The idea then was to pair him with
Doncic, and a year later the duo led Dallas to the NBA Finals for
the first time in 13 years. Boston beat the Mavs in five games last
June.
The stunning decision to send Doncic to the Lakers elevated Irving’s
status, although Davis’ championship pedigree with the Lakers
essentially put the two on even footing. Irving, who has averaged
23.7 points and 5.6 assists over 14 seasons, and LeBron James won a
title together with Cleveland in 2016.
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Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving advances the ball up court
during an NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks in Dallas,
Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez,File)
Davis went down with a groin injury in his Dallas
debut, and before he could come back, Irving sustained his knee
injury about a month after the Doncic trade.
Skeptics were plentiful when the Mavs traded for Irving, who wanted
out of Brooklyn after 3 1/2 seasons of disappointments on the court
and plenty of drama off it.
Earlier in the season he was dealt to Dallas, Irving was suspended
by the Nets for what became eight games after the team said it was
dismayed by his repeated failure to “unequivocally say he has no
antisemitic beliefs.”
That came shortly after Irving refused to issue the apology that NBA
Commissioner Adam Silver sought for posting a link to an antisemitic
work on his Twitter feed. Irving also wound up losing his long
relationship with Nike as part of the massive fallout from what he
tweeted and the reactions that followed.
Irving also missed much of the 2021-22 season because of his refusal
to get vaccinated against COVID-19, which left him essentially
ineligible to play in Brooklyn’s home games for much of the season
because of New York City rules put in place in response to the
pandemic.
There has been no such drama in Dallas, and Irving has enjoyed a
resurgence in his career. He was on an expiring contract when the
Mavs traded for him. During the 2023 offseason, Irving stayed with
Dallas on a three-year deal with a player option in the final
season. Now he's about to do it again.
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