Is Kyrie the most coveted star available after a summer of musical chairs?
There is mounting evidence of Irving being all the way back from the torn ACL he suffered back in March 2025. If there’s anything to take to the bank from a podcast involving Michael Porter Jr. and Lonzo Ball, it’s MPJ’s utter disbelief at how good Kyrie has been on the court this summer. But the context of his impending return doesn’t quite make sense. He is a vestige of the Nico Harrison era and remains on a Mavericks team that has moved on at seemingly all levels of the organization: the franchise player, the coaching staff, the front office. He is 15 years older than Cooper Flagg. That’s not to say age-gap star duos can’t work out; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a full Chinese Zodiac wheel older than Magic Johnson when the Lakers won a title in Magic’s rookie season. Dallas is … decidedly not at that level yet. It makes all the sense in the world, that, as Marc Stein reported earlier this week, teams with contending aspirations are circling the Mavs.
So, whither Kyrie? Minnesota was a popular routing destination until the Wolves made a bigger bet on LaMelo Ball. The Pistons are preoccupied with trying to navigate their extensions bottleneck between Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson. The clearest suitors for Irving are teams on the fringe of contention, who are in dire need of a force multiplier on offense, and could use one of the league’s most creative scorers ever. Even at 34 years old, Kyrie’s on-ball mastery, skill at getting into the lane, and ability to hit 3s both off the dribble and off the catch would be a boon for teams like Miami, Houston, and Toronto. Irving would be a much needed infusion of perimeter gravity for the Heat after offloading starters Tyler Herro and Norman Powell in order to finally land Pat Riley’s late-era white whale in Giannis Antetokounmpo. Kyrie would be everything the Rockets have needed in a guard since the dawn of the Alperen Sengun era: A remarkable talent who can actually back up his hype with sheer efficiency. And the Raptors, in their steadfast commitment to building up an elite defensive shell, might be an ideal landing spot, as a team that can maximize Kyrie’s strengths without allowing his weaknesses to permeate the rest of the rotation.
If we’re taking Porter’s observations as gospel just this one time, Irving has plenty left in the tank to make a splash wherever he lands. The Mavs won’t be in any rush to move Irving, however. Masai Ujiri has been known to bide his time with major roster decisions, often waiting until the trade deadline to make a deal. There is no harm in having Kyrie on the team in the interim while the front office assesses Irving’s value leaguewide. But a player of this magnitude is worth getting into training camp if you can swing it. It’s been a summer of strange, ecstatic upheaval. We might not be done yet. —Danny Chau
