Kyrie Irving has only been with the Dallas Mavericks for a season and a half, but he has already done a lot to help turn the franchise into a championship contender.
Dallas unexpectedly made a run to the NBA Finals as the fifth seed in the Western Conference, thanks to the newly formed dynamic duo of Irving and Luka Doncic.
Even though they lost in the championship round to the Boston Celtics, the front office can now confidently proceed into next season knowing that they have two-star players whose games work together at an elite level. Doncic and Irving are a perfect match.
Irving can rub people the wrong way, but he has been nothing short of a pro’s pro since joining the team. He has not made headlines for anything away from the court during his time in Dallas, and he has always been an extremely hard worker on the court.
In addition to his high-caliber play and model citizen behavior behind the scenes, Irving also played a huge role in bringing Klay Thompson to the Mavericks. Jason Kidd credited Irving with being a huge contributor to Thompson’s recruitment.
“The biggest player in that was Ky(rie). Player to player, giving his experience of what Dallas has been like for him in two years and being able to tell Klay the honest truth of what he thinks can happen with Klay coming to Dallas,” Kidd told NBC Sports.
The trade that brought Irving to the Mavericks included Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, two second-round picks, and a 2029 first-round pick.
Dinwiddie is already back with the team, and the two second-round picks will amount to almost nothing if Dallas keeps winning. Essentially, they traded Finney-Smith and one first-round pick for a player who has completely changed the franchise's trajectory.
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