Jan 29, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) reacts to fan during the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
Jan 29, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) reacts to fan during the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
Marc Stein recently reported that rival teams are still monitoring the Kyrie Irving situation with the Dallas Mavericks, wondering if the Mavs will really keep Irving once the season starts and the February 11 trade deadline gets closer.
Masai Ujiri has been pretty clear that he wants to see what Irving looks like next to Cooper Flagg first, so there is no reason to act like a trade is coming tomorrow, but teams around the league are clearly keeping an eye on it.
That makes sense because the Mavs went just 26-56 last season while Irving missed the entire year recovering from the torn ACL he suffered in March 2025, and the roster is now moving much more toward Flagg’s timeline. Klay Thompson got his buyout, Flagg is clearly the biggest piece of the future, and Irving is now 34 years old, so at some point, Dallas might have to decide when the timelines will split.
The last healthy version of Irving was still really good, which is why teams remain close to him if he gets back anywhere close to that level. He had 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.3 steals per game in 2024-25 while shooting 47.3% from the field, 40.1% from three, and 91.6% from the line, numbers that still show he can be a legit second option on a contender.
His contract obviously makes things harder because he is set to make $39.5 million this season and has a $42.4 million player option for 2027-28. Add the fact that he hasn’t played since tearing his ACL, and no team should be throwing some crazy package at the Mavs before seeing him back on the floor, but monitoring him is a completely different thing.
If Irving comes back healthy, the Mavericks struggle again, and the market becomes pretty interested in throwing a big offer for Irving, these five teams should be ready to call.
5. Orlando Magic
The Magic are already a really good team, but their biggest weakness is still pretty easy to see. They went 45-37 last season and pushed the Pistons to seven games in the first round, yet their 114.9 offensive rating ranked only 19th in the NBA, and that became even more noticeable whenever games slowed down, and Paolo Banchero had an immense load.
Banchero had 22.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game, while Desmond Bane added 20.1 points and shot 39.1% from three. Franz Wagner is still a borderline All-Star with injury issues, Anthony Black keeps improving, and Jalen Suggs remains an elite defensive guard, so this isn’t really about needing more good players. They already have enough of those.
What they don’t have is that one guard who can take over a game late in the fourth quarter and get a shot whenever the offense gets stuck, and that is where Kyrie would fit perfectly. He wouldn’t need to dominate the ball either because Banchero and Wagner can still handle plenty of creation, so Irving could move off the ball, attack mismatches, and then take over late when they need him.
A lineup with Irving, Bane, Wagner, and Banchero would give the Magic four guys who can create or shoot, and Kyrie’s 40.1% three-point shooting from his last healthy season would help a team that still needs more spacing around Banchero.
Money is where things get complicated. Wagner is making $41.8 million, Banchero $41.5 million, Bane $39.4 million, and Suggs $32.4 million, so adding Irving’s $39.5 million salary would obviously require the Magic to move some core pieces ( I’d offer Suggs and Wendell Carter Jr.) instead of just some salary relief.
That is also why they shouldn’t force anything. If the Mavs want Bane and multiple first-round picks instead, the Magic should just walk away, but if Irving comes back healthy and his price drops closer to what we’ve seen for other injured superstars, this becomes a much more interesting conversation.
The Magic already have size, defense, and young stars. What they still need is one elite late-game guard, and Irving could give them exactly that.
4. Detroit Pistons
There are plenty of teams where Irving fits better than the Pistons, but the need for another offensive piece could make this pairing really good, because they already have a team that can cover a lot of his defensive woes.
They went 60-22 last season, finished with the best record in the East, and then lost a seven-game series to the Cavaliers in the second round. Their defense ranked second in the league with a 109.7 defensive rating, while their +8.2 net rating ranked third, so this team is obviously way past the point of being just a project.
Cade Cunningham was the main reason for that jump, finishing with 23.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 9.9 assists per game, while Jalen Duren added 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds on 65.0% from the field. The Pistons already have their main star and should get their main big man back from restricted free agency, and the window isn’t going anywhere soon.
Their interest in Irving should come from what we’ve seen in the playoffs. When defenses load up on Cade and force the ball out of his hands, the Pistons don’t really have another guard who can take over for five minutes and close a game by himself. Irving would obviously change that.
A Cunningham-Irving backcourt would also be much easier to protect defensively than Kyrie next to another 6-foot-2 guard. Cunningham is 6-foot-6, Ausar Thompson can take the hardest perimeter assignment every night, and he already made First Team All-Defense while averaging 2.0 steals last season.
That gives the Pistons enough size and defense to use Irving for what he is actually great at without asking him to do too much on the other end. He could spend most of his time scoring, playing off Cunningham, and becoming the second closer this team still doesn’t really have.
The only thing holding this back is the timeline. Cunningham is 24, Duren is 22, Thompson is 23, and Ron Holland is 21, while Irving is already 34, so there is absolutely no reason for the Pistons to panic after a 60-win season and start throwing away future assets.
Still, if January comes around, they are sitting near the top of the East again, and the offense still feels too dependent on Cunningham, then the idea starts making much more sense. They would be adding him to a roster that already has a chance to win now, unlike the Mavericks.
3. Toronto Raptors
It’s very hard to project anything with the Raptors at this point, given the pending Kawhi Leonard trade and that they may be lacking other interesting assets to trade in a second superstar move. Still, the Kawhi situation is what’s going to drive this eventually.
They already agreed to a huge deal to bring Leonard back, with Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, and major draft capital going the other way, but that trade is still waiting while the NBA finishes its investigation involving the Clippers. If Leonard officially joins the Raptors, there really isn’t much reason for them to stop halfway and suddenly become conservative.
The Raptors went 46-36 last season and finished fifth in the East, with a defense that ranked fifth and an offense that sat only 15th. Scottie Barnes can do a little bit of everything, but when games get slower, he still isn’t the type of player who should be creating every late-game shot by himself. That was the main point of bringing Kawhi in the first place.
If Leonard arrives, the Raptors could suddenly have Barnes, Leonard, and Irving as three completely different creators. Barnes can organize, become a more suited third option, and be that versatile forward every contender wants. Leonard can work from the mid-range, and Kyrie can run pick-and-rolls or just create something out of nothing when a game gets ugly.
That group would be really hard to guard because there wouldn’t be one obvious player to load up on. Teams could send help at Irving and leave Leonard, double Leonard and give Barnes room to attack, or stay home and let Kyrie work one-on-one, which is basically the exact situation the Raptors would want.
The harder part is putting together the package. If the Leonard trade gets completed, the Raptors will already have sent out a lot of draft capital, so another massive trade wouldn’t be easy. Immanuel Quickley’s $32.5 million salary would probably have to be involved in any simple structure, which would be a step up in quality right now, but may bring them some financial issues in some years.
There is at least an interesting connection there because Ujiri is now running the Mavs, and he was the one who brought Quickley to the Raptors and gave him his current deal. That doesn’t mean the Mavs would automatically want him, but there is already some familiarity with the player.
If the Leonard deal falls apart, I wouldn’t chase Irving at all. If Kawhi joins the Raptors, then this becomes a very different conversation because at that point, they are clearly trying to win now at all costs.
2. Miami Heat
The Heat already traded Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware, Kasparas Jakucionis, three first-round picks, a first-round pick swap, and a second-round pick to land Giannis Antetokounmpo, so there isn’t much mystery here, because this roster was clearly built to chase a championship immediately.
Giannis had 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 5.4 assists last season while shooting 62.4% from the field, and Bam Adebayo added 20.1 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 3.2 assists. That frontcourt already gives the Heat two elite pieces, but the obvious question is who creates from the perimeter when defenses pack the paint against Giannis.
Davion Mitchell had a really good year with 9.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 6.5 assists while shooting 49.0% from the field and 39.5% from three, and he is a really solid starter because he defends, moves the ball, and doesn’t need many shots. The problem is that Miami doesn’t have a true perimeter threat for the playoffs, and every championship team needs that player.
A Kyrie-Giannis pick-and-roll would be ridiculous because defenses would have to choose between giving Irving space, switching a bigger defender onto him, or bringing help away from Giannis. Add Bam around the paint and either Klay or Andrew Wiggins spotting up on the perimeter, and that offense might be atop of the NBA.
The shooting would help a lot, too. Irving shot 40.1% from three last time, Wiggins made 41.4% last year, and Thompson was still at 38.3% with Dallas, so the Heat could actually put enough shooting around Giannis to make the offense work. The problem is obviously the trade package after emptying the chamber.
The Heat already used a huge part of their draft capital to get Giannis, while Wiggins makes $30.2 million, Nikola Jovic $16.2 million, and Bobby Portis $14.5 million. Matching Irving’s salary isn’t impossible, but they can’t just keep throwing three first-round picks into every star trade.
That means they would need the market to come down. If the Mavs want premium young players and multiple first-round picks, the Heat probably won’t have the best offer. If Irving is available for a cheaper offer, then they should absolutely make the call because Wiggins, Jovic, and maybe a Pelle Larsson or another young piece could be enticing for a soon-to-expire 34-year-old Kyrie.
1. Houston Rockets
After all that, the Rockets are still the team that makes the most sense to me because they already have almost everything they need, and Kyrie would fix one of the few problems that actually showed up in the playoffs.
They went 52-30 last season, finished fifth in the West, and posted a +5.4 net rating, but then lost 4-2 to the Doncicless Lakers in the first round. Their defense ranked sixth, they rebounded at a high level, and Kevin Durant was still ridiculous at 37 years old, putting up 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.8 assists while shooting 52.0% from the field and 41.3% from three.
The talent around him wasn’t the problem, as Amen Thompson had 18.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.3 assists, Alperen Sengun added 20.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 6.2 assists, and Reed Sheppard scored 13.5 points while shooting 39.4% from three. There are good players everywhere on this roster, but there still isn’t that one guard who can completely break down a defense when the half-court offense gets stuck.
The fit with Durant also doesn’t need much imagination because we have already seen those two together in Brooklyn. Both can play on or off the ball, both can score from anywhere on the floor, and neither needs some complicated action just to create a decent shot.
The Rockets would also have enough defense around them to survive it. Amen Thompson and Tari Eason are two monster defensive pieces on the perimeter, and Ime Udoka has been reunited with Marcus Smart in the offseason, who signed a three-year deal after leaving the Lakers.
This Rockets team is also super young, which means they can bring fresh legs and energy whenever Durant and Irving start getting tired. They would have a really deep rotation with plenty of youth coming off the bench, and that could be huge over a long season.
And even though they are young, they aren’t inexperienced either. Sheppard, Sengun, Amen, Jabari Smith Jr., and the rest of the core already have multiple playoff games under their belt, so this isn’t a group that would be going into a postseason run with a lack of maturity.
Houston boasts better trade flexibility than most contenders, and Fred VanVleet’s $25.0 million salary gives them an obvious place to start if they ever need to build a deal. They still shouldn’t go crazy with the offer because Irving hasn’t played since March 2025, and giving up Amen, Sengun, or Sheppard would be way too much.
But if the Mavs eventually decide they want salary relief, one young piece, and draft value, the Rockets should be right there. They already won 52 games, already have Durant signed for two more years, and have one of the better defenses in basketball. Then they got to the playoffs and still couldn’t get out of the first round, largely because the offense got too rough whenever they needed someone to create in the half-court.
The Mavs aren’t at the point where they have to trade Irving, and they want to see what Irving looks like next to Flagg to at least raise his trade value. Irving also hasn’t asked out, so there’s still no active trade market right now.
But even so, a lot can change once the season actually starts. If Irving looks healthy and the Mavs are better than expected, this conversation probably disappears pretty quickly. If January comes around and they are still near the bottom of the West while Flagg keeps taking over more of the franchise, then keeping a 34-year-old guard making almost $40.0 million becomes a much harder decision.
Francisco Leiva is a staff writer for Fadeaway World from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a recent graduate of the University of Buenos Aires and in 2023 joined the Fadeaway World team. Previously a writer for Basquetplus, Fran has dedicated years to covering Argentina's local basketball leagues and the larger South American basketball scene, focusing on international tournaments.Fran's deep connection to basketball began in the early 2000s, inspired by the prowess of the San Antonio Spurs' big three: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and fellow Argentinian, Manu Ginóbili. His years spent obsessing over the Spurs have led to deep insights that make his articles stand out amongst others in the industry. Fran has a profound respect for the Spurs' fanbase, praising their class and patience, especially during tougher times for the team. He finds them less toxic compared to other fanbases of great franchises like the Warriors or Lakers, who can be quite annoying on social media.An avid fan of Luka Doncic since his debut with Real Madrid, Fran dreams of interviewing the star player. He believes Luka has the potential to become the greatest of all time (GOAT) with the right supporting cast. Fran's experience and drive to provide detailed reporting give Fadeaway World a unique perspective, offering expert knowledge and regional insights to our content.