With the firing of Nico Harrison happening on Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks are being urged to blow things up and re-build around Cooper Flagg. This has convinced fans and pundits alike that Anthony Davis and/or Kyrie Irving could be traded soon. And while some Boston Celtics fans are already starting to dream about a trade for Davis, close to zero Celts fans are even considering a reunion with Kyrie, who is seen as a huge villain in Boston due to his rocky tenure with the Celtics. What Kyrie haters don’t realize, however, is that Boston could actually address three key issues by making a blockbuster trade with Dallas that brings Irving back to Boston. The following trade proposal involving Kyrie would improve Boston’s weak front court situation, free up near future cap space, and reignite immediate contention hopes for the 2025-26 season. Here’s what the trade could look like. It’s a three team deal involving the Brooklyn Nets, who are looped in to necessarily take on some salary from the Celtics. Story continues below advertisement The Deal Celtics receive: Kyrie Irving, Daniel Gafford, Dwight PowellMavericks receive: Jaylen BrownNets receive: Sam Hauser, 2032 second-rounder from Dallas For context, here’s a look at the salary outlooks for each player involved in the above proposal. Story continues below advertisement Irving: $76 million through 2027-28 (player option)Gafford: $68.8 million through 2028-29Powell: $4 million expiringBrown: $236.2 million through 2028-29Hauser: $45 million through 2028-29 Jayson Tatum on the fans still booing Kyrie Irving:“Obviously, we all know what happened. But it was a while ago, a couple of years. I have a great relationship with him…We’ve all moved on, but you can understand that the fans are passionate.” pic.twitter.com/r9bLNTQpKb— Noa Dalzell ð (@NoaDalzell) March 2, 2024 So, why would the Celtics do this trade? Let’s start with the basketball reasons. Gafford would address Boston’s rebounding problems and give the Celts a prime-aged starting center for the next there-and-a-half seasons (Gafford is 27). Gafford’s contract is cheaper than anything the Celtics would find in free agency for a player of his caliber. Story continues below advertisement Losing an NBA Finals MVP and franchise cornerstone in Brown would be extremely tough, but adding Irving and Gafford in exchange would make the Celtics a better team right away, especially if Jayson Tatum returns this season. Irving, by the way, is expected to return at some point early in 2026 (and he can’t be traded until December 15, it should be noted). This is what Boston’s rotation would look like once Kyrie and Tatum are back:Starters:Derrick WhiteKyrie IrvingJayson TatumJosh MinottDaniel GaffordBench:Payton PritchardAnfernee SimonsHugo GonzálezJordan WalshNeemias QuetaDeep bench:Luka Garza, Chris Boucher, Xavier Tillman, Baylor Scheierman The above is a contending roster if healthy, especially in a weakened Eastern Conference. It’s also a better roster than the Celtics would have if they didn’t make the trade and remained constructed as is. Story continues below advertisement There are also financial benefits of doing this trade. Namely, it would allow Brad Stevens to move off of Brown’s massive contract in exchange for a pair of smaller contracts, one of which (Kyrie’s) expires a full year sooner than Jaylen’s. In short, the trade would provide Stevens with greater financial flexibility. We’re not going to get too deep into why the Mavericks would do this trade, but to be brief, the opportunity to pair Cooper Flagg with Jaylen Brown (and Anthony Davis, if they don’t trade him) would be the reason. Jaylen is four years younger than Kyrie and thus fits better with Flagg’s timeline. Losing Gafford would sting, but they have another, younger center in Dereck Lively II. Story continues below advertisement If Celtics fans can look past their feelings about Kyrie, they’ll realize that this trade proposal is a lot more respectable than they initially assumed.