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The Brooklyn Nets have reportedly agreed to trade Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks. The Nets are set to receive Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and future picks in the deal, as per multiple reports. The deal went through after the former Cleveland Cavaliers guard requested a trade ahead of the NBA trade deadline on February 9.
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Irving was not part of the recent Brooklyn game on Saturday against the Washington Wizards. The team stated that he was injured and hence wasn’t in the arena. The trade also ends a turbulent stint in Brooklyn for Irving, as he signed with his hometown team in 2019 with Kevin Durant. The duo were touted to possibly create a new dominant duo in the East and push for a title.
But things didn’t pan that well for the team as Kyrie Irving didn’t play in the 2019-20 playoffs which took place in the bubble for not being vaccinated for COVID-19. This saga overflowed in the next season as well when he couldn’t play home games for the Nets because of his vaccination status.
Then again earlier this season, Irving received an eight-game suspension after the team expressed displeasure for his repeated failure to “unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs” after he posted a movie link on Twitter. During his time in Brooklyn, the Nets also traded for then-Houston Rockets star James Harden, to create a Big 3.
The Nets could only manage to reach the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference where they were eliminated by eventual champions, Milwaukee Bucks. Then ahead of the 2022-23 season, Harden was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, which brought former all-star Ben Simmons to the Nets.
Now Kyrie Irving will play alongside MVP candidate Luka Donic, who has been averaging 33.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 8.2 assists. With this trade, Dallas Mavericks would hope to improve their last season’s performance where they reached the conference finals and lost to the reigning NBA champions Golden State Warriors with a 4-1 margin.
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