Mavs Owner Mark Cuban on Kyrie Irving Free Agency: 'He's Our Top Priority'
Stop us if you've heard this before, but Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has made it known what his team's 'top priority' is heading into the offseason.
Last year around this time, re-signing Jalen Brunson was the team's top priority vocalized by Cuban. This year, he says re-signing star point guard Kyrie Irving is the main objective. For the Mavs' sake, here's to hoping things go better this time than they did last summer.
"I think we have a good shot [at re-signing Irving]," Cuban said ahead of the Mavs' matchup with the Sacramento Kings at American Airlines Center on Wednesday night. "I want him to stay."
When asked if Irving was worthy of a max contract, though, Cuban responded: "I'm not going to negotiate with you."
Through 19 games with the Mavs, Irving is averaging 26.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists while nearly having 50/40/90 shooting splits. Irving has also battled plantar fasciitis at the end of this season, but has played through the pain most nights. That kind of production alone points to him being a max-contract type of player, but Dallas hasn't been able to translate that into wins yet.
"It's absolutely my fault for not recognizing that [that we needed more defensive personnel]," Cuban said, referring to the hit the Mavs' defense took after the trade for Irving.
However, the Mavs were able to get their second star next to Luka Doncic, and now, it'll be up to Cuban and GM Nico Harrison to fill in those defensive gaps over the offseason to make sure their team can bounce back next season.
But first, re-signing Irving is the 'top priority.' The Mavs like Irving, and Irving seems to like the Mavs. Let's see if they can make the money work.
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