Transfer update: Lebron James’s best partner Kyrie Irving set to remain with Dallas Mavericks on three-year, $126m deal

Kyrie Irving will sign a three-year, $126 million contract to play for the Dallas Mavericks.

In Dallas, a mercurial guard plans to run it back with Luka Doni. Irving joined the Mavericks in a sensational deal in February.

Luka Doni and Kyrie Irving want to run it back.

In the first hour of NBA free agency on Friday, the mystҽrious guard and the Dallas Mavericks reached an agreement on a $126 million, three-year contract, a person with knowledge of the matter told the Associated Press. Due to the fαct that contracts couldn’t be signed until Thursday, the individual spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Mavericks and guard Seth Curry, who will be making his third appearance with the team, also reached an agreement on a two-year contract, the source claimed.

Irving looked to be referring to his choice to return in a one-word tweet with the “peace” and “love” emojis. Irving refused to talk about his future throughout his brief season with Dallas and refused to meet with reporters after the season. After acquiring Irving in a blockbuster trade with Brooklyn in February of last year, the Mavericks matched All-Star starters for the first time in the team’s history, but struggled late to miss the playoffs for the first time since Doni was a rookie in 2018–19.

After winning their first two games with Irving, the Mavericks went 7-18 and failed to advance past the play-in round, a year after winning the Western Conference finals.

Prior to their relationship brҽaking down and Irving requesting a trade, the Nets had first offered Irving an extension.

The 2022 trade that sent Kristaps Porzingis to Washington and gave the Mavericks Spencer Dinwiddie as a key playoff player fell short of the excitement of general manager Nico Harrison’s first major move for Dallas.

Dallas sent the Nets two players, including defensive stalwart Dorian Finney-Smith and Dinwiddie. The two-month trial of Doni and Irving failed in large part due the defense.

Doni has three years left on the $215 million rookie maximum agreement he signed two summers ago before the player option becomes exercisable. He stated that he wants to explore where the star duo may go beyond the current campaign.

Doni, who placed second in the scoring race with a career-high 32.4 points per game, stated, “I wish we could sustain that chemistry, friendship. “It won’t happen tomorrow or next week. It’s a construction procedure.

After Irving sat out and Doni was only able to play in the first quarter with the Mavs still had a chance to make the play-in game with two games left, Dallas’ turbulent season came to an end under the shadow of an NBA investigation.

After a loss to Chicago in the aforementioned game eliminated the Mavs a season after they reached the Western Conference finals, the 31-year-old Irving and Doni both sat for a pointless season finale.

The 0-2 record allowed Dallas to keep the 10th pick in the draft, which they used to choose Dereck Lively II of Duke at number 12 overall and Olivier-Maxence Prosper of Marquette at number 24. Dallas would have lost out to the New York Knicks if they had slid to 11th or lower.

Irving dealt with primarily self-inflicted controversy for three or more seasons in Brooklyn prior to the trade.

Irving missed almost all of the home games in 2021–22 due to his refusal to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, and he missed eight games in the early part of last season after the team suspended him for tweeting a link to a movie with antisemitic content. Irving’s association with Nike was terminated due to the post.

As the renowned Brooklyn duo came to an end with a whimper and just one playoff series triumph, the Nets traded Kevin Durant to Phoenix in another blockbuster transaction a few days after trading Irving to the Mavericks.

Three years after entering the NBA as an undrafted free agent, Curry, the younger brother of Golden State superstar Stephen Curry, began his career when he was with the Mavs in 2016–17.

After playing just 50 games in his career prior to that, he averaged 12.8 points per game in 70 contests. He then played one season in Portland before posting another strong year in Dallas.

Curry left once more in 2020 when he signed with Philadelphia in free agency. In the transaction that sent Ben Simmons to the Nets and James Harden to the 76ers in 2022, he then joined Irving in Brooklyn.