A New Contender has Emerged

Trades in the NBA happen all the time and in recent memory, there have been some interesting and league-changing trades. For example, when Kevin Durant was sent to the Golden State Warriors the team was unstoppable, or even more recently when Lebron James was traded to the Los Angles Lakers and went on to lead the team to an NBA championship during the 2020 season. Recently Kyrie Irving requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets and many fans were shocked by the outcome.

Ever since getting drafted, Irving has put up amazing numbers and has accomplished things most players can only dream of; most notably hitting one of the most clutch shots in Basketball history over Stephen Curry in game 7 of the 2016 NBA finals. Gabriel Okelloh, a sophomore, remembers that shot as well “I remember watching the game and being surprised Kyrie was able to make that step back. It was legendary”. This shot cemented Irving in the history books after the Cavilers went on to win the game and came back from down 3-1 vs the team with the best regular season record of all time of 73-9. 

During Irving’s days with the Cleveland Cavilers, Irving played well but he has missed lots of games due to off-the-court reasons. Irving is one of the most controversial players in the history of the NBA for some of his statements: he said he was not one- hundred percent sure that the earth was round. Irving has also missed games fairly recently due to Anti-Semitic posts. 

The main reason Irving left Clevland is that he wanted to be the number one option on a roster. Irving who was playing second fiddle to Lebron James later on went on to play for other teams like the Boston Celtics and most recently the Brooklyn Nets. While on the Celtics, Irving did not fit in with his teammates well; the same goes for Brooklyn. Even with Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving on the same roster, the Brooklyn Nets only got one total playoff win and the trio only played 72 total games. 

On February 5th it was announced that Kyrie Irving had been traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Dallas ​​Mavericks with Markieef Morris in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2027 second-round pick, a 2029 first-round pick (unprotected), and a 2029 second-round-pick. “I think that the trade was decently fair for both teams because the Nets got some underrated players and picks and the Mavericks got a good player in Kyrie,” says Munil Ana another sophomore.

This trade has left many fans confused because Kyrie Irving who is known as a player who wants to be the main option on a team is now paired with MVP candidate Luka Dončić who is a ball-dominant guard. In the past, it has been proven that two ball-dominant guards do not work together well on teams like when the Houston Rockets paired Russell Westbrook together with James Harden. On the other hand, some fans such as Marc Benz, another sophomore believe that the duo can work together “I feel like there’s some upside and downsides with the trade. Irving brings the team even more offense, and nowadays offense in the NBA affects games more than defense”.

Overall the trade could make the Dallas Mavericks more of a title contender, especially because the Mavericks are 6th in the Western standings only 9 total games behind first place. With the new duo in the backcourt, the Mavericks could start a winning streak and get a good seeding for the playoffs or the season could crash. Only time will tell.