DALLAS (AP) — Kyrie Irving wants to run it back with Luka Doncic.
The enigmatic guard and the Dallas Mavericks agreed Friday on a $126 million, three-year contract in the opening hour of NBA free agency, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because contracts can’t be signed until Thursday.
The Mavericks paired All-Star starters for the first time in franchise history by adding Irving in a blockbuster deal with Brooklyn last February, but stumbled down the stretch to miss the playoffs for the first time since Doncic was a rookie in 2018-19.
The NBA has fined the Dallas Mavericks $750,000, saying the team engaged in “conduct detrimental to the league” by sitting out most of its key players against the Chicago Bulls on April 7 despite still having a chance to reach the postseason.
Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison isn’t say much about an NBA investigation into possible tanking or the future of Kyrie Irving.
DALLAS (AP) — Kyrie Irving sat for the last two games as part of a plan by the Dallas Mavericks to get back a draft pick sent to the New York Knicks in a trade four years ago.
The NBA has opened an investigation into Dallas’ decision to rest several players while the team still had a mathematical chance of making the play-in tournament.
Dallas was in the middle of the postseason chase when Irving joined the club, but the eight-time All-Star and Doncic, a four-time choice, were just 5-11 together with both missing multiple games because of injuries.
The Mavericks won their first two games with Irving but went 7-18 the rest of the way and couldn’t even make the play-in tournament a year after reaching the Western Conference finals.
Irving originally had been offered an extension by the Nets last summer, before their relationship fell apart and Irving asked to be dealt.
General manager Nico Harrison’s second blockbuster deal for Dallas didn’t provide the spark of his first — a 2022 trade that sent Kristaps Porzingis to Washington and gave the Mavs a key playoff contributor in Spencer Dinwiddie.
Dinwiddie was one of two Dallas players sent the Nets, as was defensive stalwart Dorian Finney-Smith. Defense was high on the list of reasons the two-month trial of Doncic and Irving didn’t work.
Doncic has three years remaining before the player option on the $215 million rookie max extension he signed two summers ago. He said after the season he wants to see where the superstar pairing can go.
Dallas’ tumultuous season ended under the cloud of an NBA investigation after Irving didn’t play and Doncic was limited to the first quarter when the Mavs still had play-in hopes with two games remaining.
Irving and Doncic both sat for a meaningless season finale after a loss to Chicago in the game in question eliminated the Mavs a season after they went to the Western Conference finals.
The 0-2 finish helped Dallas retain the 10th pick in the draft, which the Mavs parlayed into a pair of first-round picks in Duke center Dereck Lively II at No. 12 overall and Marquette’s Olivier-Maxence Prosper at 24. Had Dallas dropped to 11th or lower, the pick would have gone to the New York Knicks.
Before the trade, Irving spent three-plus seasons in Brooklyn dealing mostly with self-induced drama.
Irving missed almost all of the home games in 2021-22 because he wouldn’t get vaccinated against COVID-19, and faced heavy criticism when he tweeted a link to a film containing antisemitic material. Nike ended its relationship with Irving over the tweet.
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