There are rumours that Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving will stay with the team, even though he could look for other chances.
Although Irving is still healing from a torn ACL and will likely miss about half the season, he is still one of the most important Mavericks players.
The 33-year-old guard just had one of the best seasons of his career, averaging 24.7 points and 4.6 assists while taking over as team leader after Luka Dončić was traded in February, which was a big surprise.
Over the weekend, NBA insider Marc Stein of The Stein Line said that Irving plans to stay with the team, but it’s not clear how that will happen. “Just to be clear, nothing has changed in the long-held belief that Irving will not be in Dallas next season.
At this point, it’s still not clear whether Irving will simply exercise his option and then try to work out a new deal with the Mavericks that can be signed on July 7 or give up the option and become an unrestricted free agent, as he wrote to MSN.
“Of course, turning down the option would mean that both sides are likely to sign a new deal in free agency.
Dallas has been expected for a while to try to re-sign the 33-year-old to a new three-year deal similar to his original three-year, $120 million deal with the Mavericks.”
As he approaches the last year of a $120 million, three-year deal, Irving must now choose between accepting or declining a player option for about $43 million.
Even though Irving has been vocal about his devotion to the Mavericks, speculation has been swirling that he may try to cash in on his player option and sign with a rival team in free agency.
These rumours started because people were worried about the Mavericks’ future, because Kyrie Irving was hesitant to play for a team that dealt away a key player, and because he had a history of bouncing about from team to team.
A long-term deal might be inked this offseason, though, and Irving is supposedly committed to staying with the Mavericks for at least another season. As of this writing, Irving has till June 24 to formally decide on this player choice.
Leave a Reply