Despite Lack of Assets, Heat Circling Mavericks' Kyrie Irving as Trade Target

Kyrie Irving has been in trade rumors all offseason despite the Dallas Mavericks insisting that they have no desire to trade the 9-time All-Star.

While he's coming off an ACL injury and hasn't played in 18 months, there remains a lot of belief that he and Cooper Flagg can be a dangerous duo on the court, even if they're 15 years apart in age.

Other NBA teams will monitor Irving and the Mavericks all season long. If they're struggling but Irving is still productive, the trade interest is going to heat up, especially as we get closer to the deadline.

If the Mavericks are in the thick of the postseason race, it would make little sense to move Irving, even if they're looking to build around Flagg for the future.

One of the many teams that is expected to show interest in Irving, if he becomes available, is the Miami Heat, per NBA Insider Jake Fischer.

"There's already been some rumblings of the Heat having interest in him," Fischer said on a Bleacher Report stream. "Miami, with their point guard depth, are the early spots that people around the league are looking at as potential Kyrie Irving trade destinations."

Sep 25, 2026; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) poses for a photo during the Mavericks media day at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Miami Doesn't Have the Assets for Kyrie Irving

This rumor feels like a pipe dream for the Miami Heat, as they gave up a lot of their assets and matching salaries to the Milwaukee Bucks in order to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

To trade for Irving, they'd have to combine the salaries of Nikola Jovic, Bobby Portis, and Davion Mitchell, or they could do a package of like Andrew Wiggins and Jovic for Irving and Moussa Cisse, but the Heat have little draft capital. 2027, 2028, and 2032 are the only first-round picks they can do anything with.

Would the Mavericks be tempted by a package of Wiggins and Jovic for Irving and another salary filler if it includes a 2028 first-round pick swap and an unprotected pick in 2032? I think they'd need more than that to take on Jovic's bloated salary.

Wiggins also just signed a contract extension, but it will drop his cap hit substantially after this season. It would be just $16.5 million in 2027-28, then a player option for $17.3 million in 2028-29. That would be a lot easier to trade in the future than his current $30 million deal this season.

Still, it just wouldn't help the Mavericks that much. Jovic is a bad player on an even worse contract, and it would take additional capital to try to trade that off in the future if it came down to this being the package.

This would also leave the Mavericks with no proven guard play. Maybe they could get Davion Mitchell back instead of Jovic, and that could be a conversation to have.

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