3 Contending Teams That Could Show Interest in Trading for Mavericks' Kyrie Irving

The Dallas Mavericks have made a lot of big changes this offseason, putting a new front office in place by hiring Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz, but they also parted ways with Jason Kidd as the head coach.

Kidd's leaving the organization made people immediately think Kyrie Irving could be available in a trade, as he and Kidd had a lot of mutual respect. Masai Ujiri has shut down any notion so far that they may look to trade Irving, as he wants to see what it looks like to see Irving and Cooper Flagg play together. However, he also said that every move they make will be to build for the future. Trading Irving could be a chance to build for the future.

NBA insiders Marc Stein and ESPN's Shams Charania have reported that multiple contenders are expected to show interest in trading for Kyrie Irving. Here are three teams that would make sense for trade destinations.

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves are looking for a talent upgrade in their starting lineup, as they want more guard help for Anthony Edwards. Kyrie Irving could help them get over the hump. Ayo Dosunmu was a revelation for them, but he'd ideally be a Sixth Man. Irving would be able to slot in next to Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, and that would be a formidable threat in the Western Conference.

It's easy to make the salary line up, as Julius Randle and Terrence Shannon Jr. would get within $3 million of Irving's salary. However, the Timberwolves have very few tradeable picks, and the Mavericks would like to restock their draft capital over the next few years. It's also hard to imagine them being too interested in Randle, even if he is a Dallas native, so this would likely have to be a three-team trade.

Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets had a lack of firepower in their backcourt last year as Fred VanVleet missed the entire season with injury, and Amen Thompson still isn't a great scorer. That forced them to play bigger lineups, and that really cost them in the playoffs. There would also be the added bonus of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving playing together again.

Any trade package from the Rockets should revolve around whether Fred VanVleet picks up his player option. If he does, they could package him and Dorian Finney-Smith together to match salaries. Otherwise, they could do Finney-Smith, Reed Sheppard, and Steven Adams.

Either way, the Mavericks would likely prefer to have their 2029 first-round pick back, which was ironically sent to the Brooklyn Nets for Irving initially. If they can get more picks, great, but that should be their first priority.

Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic also need a shot in the arm on offense. They have consistently been one of the worst offenses in the NBA for the last two decades. They thought they could fix that by adding Desmond Bane, but he didn't provide enough of it. Getting someone like Kyrie Irving would.

The financial math works out pretty easily, as Jalen Suggs and Goga Bitadze combine to make just $500k more than Irving. The real question would be whether the Magic would be willing to include draft capital, as that's what the Mavs want as much as anything.

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