{"id":108471,"date":"2024-11-22T17:04:31","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T22:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=108471"},"modified":"2024-11-22T17:04:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T22:04:31","slug":"mavs-kyrie-irving-remain-what-price","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/22\/mavs-kyrie-irving-remain-what-price\/","title":{"rendered":"Mavs Leader Likely To Remain In Dallas But For What Price?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dallas Mavericks star guard Kyrie Irving<\/a> is expected to stay with the franchise for the foreseeable future, even if he does decline his upcoming player option<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a $42 million player option,\u201d ESPN beat reporter Tim MacMahon tells The Hoop Collective Podcast <\/em>(h\/t RealGM). \u201cLook, I’m not telling you exactly how it will work out. My guess is he’ll end up declining that player option. But what I would say is I would be extremely surprised if Kyrie Irving is not in Dallas for the next few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mavs Leader Kyrie Irving Likely To Remain In Dallas But For What Price?<\/h2>\n

\u201cThey have demonstrated, ‘We value you and we will pay you how much we value you within the ability to have a little bit of wiggle room financially,’ McMahon adds. \u201cThey are going to put a big number on the table for him. He has been extremely happy in Dallas. They are extremely happy with him. He’s the leader of this locker room. That’s unquestioned. And, right now, he is playing as well as he ever has. Certainly as efficient as he ever has.”<\/p>\n

“Things would have to take a real turn for it to be a situation where Kyrie is not part of the Mavericks moving forward,” he concludes. “I don’t see that as a realistic option for either side. Everybody’s happy.”<\/p>\n

He\u2019s Already Playing On A Bargain Deal<\/h3>\n

MacMahon\u2019s assertion is spot-on. Irving declining his 2025-26 player option should probably be expected.<\/p>\n

In general, this is a decision many players make when eyeing a more lucrative or lengthy contract. When he signed a three-year, $126 million contract<\/a> with the Mavs in 2023, it\u2019s not like his upcoming player option was a secret inclusion. Dallas was likely prepared for the possibility that Irving would decline it, whether he wanted to re-sign or leave.<\/p>\n

That being said, one could argue that Irving signed a bargain deal with the Mavs in 2023. Consider that Irving makes less than players like Houston Rockets point guard Fred VanVleet<\/a>, who many would say he\u2019s better than. Just based on his skill level<\/a>, he should probably be making as much as Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker<\/a> or Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Off the court, the baggage that he brought to Texas with him tainted his image. As a result of the questions about his intangibles, his free market value was negatively impacted. On the court, Irving\u2019s durability was iffy, which may have also affected his earnings.<\/p>\n

However, since winning a championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, there\u2019s never been a point in which his talent was truly questioned. His ability to lead or have a team built around him<\/a> is a different matter.<\/p>\n

Turning Over A New Leaf<\/h3>\n

In the 19 months since Dallas traded for Irving, he\u2019s gone from being characterized as a cancer to a chief<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s taken a level-headed rather than combative approach in pressers, which has helped lead to more favorable coverage. However, it\u2019s not just the media he\u2019s endeared himself to. At every stop, Irving has had his share of fans<\/a> in the locker room, but in Dallas he\u2019s seen as both kind and wise.<\/p>\n

Add to that a player who isn\u2019t just dominant offensively, but willing to sacrifice shot attempts and energy for the betterment of the team, and he may be having the best stretch of his career. The Mavs embracing him and welcoming him with open arms aided his success. Nonetheless, his performance has largely been byproduct of his own volition.<\/p>\n

So long as he makes it through the season healthy, he should have a very<\/em> rich contract waiting for him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dallas Mavericks star guard Kyrie Irving is expected to stay with the franchise for the foreseeable future, even if he does decline his upcoming player option. \u201cHe has a $42 million player option,\u201d ESPN beat reporter Tim MacMahon tells The Hoop Collective Podcast (h\/t RealGM). \u201cLook, I’m not telling you exactly how it will work […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":108484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,1608,62,3],"tags":[406,297],"class_list":["post-108471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mavericks","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-nba-free-agency"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}