The transfer of Luka Doncic could lead to the departure of Kyrie Irving

It goes without saying that the past four days have been some of the strangest in the history of the Dallas Mavericks franchise. Fans are trying to keep up with all the information coming out about why Nico Harrison decided to swap Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis, and all of this is happening while the Texas franchise is in the midst of a tough stretch in the season before the All-Star break.

The Mavericks and Harrison made another trade as Dallas swapped Quentin Grimes and a 2025 second-round pick for Caleb Martin before the 118-116 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Dallas and their executives made this trade while in Philadelphia, allowing both players to transition to their new organizations more smoothly.

This is the least the Mavericks could do based on the harsh way they decided to trade their franchise superstar, Doncic, and notable figures around the league will not turn a blind eye to Harrison's unprofessionalism in Doncic's departure. Doncic's former teammate, Kyrie Irving, had the first chance to comment on this move to the media since it happened on Saturday, speaking after the game on his return to the court against the 76ers where he scored 34 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a game that ended with an 11-of-21 shooting performance.

"Really shocked and you can't imagine getting ready to go to sleep and then you find out news like this," said Irving. "Right now it's still a grieving process. I miss my brother."

This quote from Irving highlights the raw emotion of seeing one of his best friends depart with whom he has lived through countless intense battles in the regular season and playoffs, and it is clear that Irving has not fully recovered from this trade, just like almost all of the Dallas fanbase. Harrison's comments on Sunday made it seem like Doncic brought nothing to the team culture, but Irving's feelings directly contradict this, as Irving is now the leader, the heart, and the soul of this Mavericks team.

The Risk of Losing Kyrie Irving

There could definitely be potential negative effects with the Doncic trade when it comes to Irving's contract this upcoming summer, as Irving has the ability to decline a player option of over $40 million if he so chooses. Irving has spoken about how much he loves the city of Dallas and how the organization treats its players, but Harrison's startling move to trade Doncic was not emblematic of a front office showing loyalty to its superstar players, and this may have Irving feeling some type of way, even if he doesn't express it to the media.

Despite Irving's emotional farewell to Doncic, he conducted himself in a professional manner in post-game interviews and still carried forward the notion that he is focused on being the leader of this team and helping lead them to a championship. If things go south quickly with this situation, however, Harrison's decision to deal Doncic could easily cause Irving to walk out the door during this offseason or the next.

The Mavericks would surely love to keep Irving for as long as they can, even if his production begins to slightly decline and he becomes more of a secondary playmaker throughout the latter half of his career. Harrison's move was not just a move that jeopardized Dallas' future, but was risky enough to be as counterproductive as to potentially require the Mavericks to tear down their entire team this offseason.

Let's hope that's not the case and that the pairing of Irving, Davis, and potentially another piece can take this Mavericks team to new heights, but things look very bleak in that department unless Dallas drastically changes course.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, El traspaso de Luka Doncic podría provocar la salida de Kyrie Irving