Kyrie Irving is traded to Dallas Mavericks and joins forces with Luka Doncic from Brooklyn Nets

Kyrie Irving has been traded to the Dallas Mavericks, ending his controversial tenure with the Brooklyn Nets. 

Nets get Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a first-round and multiple second-round picks in return for Irving, according to The Athletic. Markieff Morris is also heading to Dallas.

The move sees Irving join forces with Luka Doncic. The Mavericks next play on Monday night against the Utah Jazz. Irving missed the Nets game on Saturday night against the Wizards due to right calf soreness.

The Lakers were also linked with a move for Irving but, according to ESPN, the Nets preferred the package on offer from Dallas. The picks the Nets get in the deal are a 2029 unprotected first-round pick, a 2027 second-round pick and a 2029 second round-pick.

Irving also has history with Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison and Dallas have been said to be keen to get in another big name to partner MVP candidate Doncic. 

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Kyrie Irving is heading to the Dallas Mavericks for the remainder of the current season 

Irving’s current contract runs until the end of the season, when Dallas can decide if they want to enter negotiations to extend the agreement.

Earlier on Sunday, it emerged that Irving was prepared to sit out the rest of the season with the Nets if they refused to trade him before Thursday’s deadline. 

Irving had a rocky time of it in Brooklyn, beginning with his refusal to get the Covid-19 vaccine during the 2020-21 season which forced him out of the lineup for home games until New York mayor Eric Adams altered the city’s laws.

The most recent controversy to surround Irving and the nets came earlier this season when he faced backlash for tweeting a link to an ‘anti-Semitic’ film.

Irving initially refused to apologize or back down over the tweet before Brooklyn suspended him for eight games and he eventually issued an apology for sharing the 2018 documentary, which was based on a book described as ‘venomously anti-Semitic.’

Irving, who was selected as a starter for the 2023 All-Star Game, is averaging 27.1 points and 5.3 assists in 40 games this season and had recently carried the team on a streak of six games or more than 30 points before it was snapped against the Lakers Monday night.

The Nets are fourth in the Eastern Conference standings with a 32-20 record and play next on Monday night against the Clippers at the Barclays Center.

The Mavericks, meanwhile, are sixth in the Western Conference with a 28-26 record.

The 29-year-old Dinwiddie, meanwhile, returns to the Nets after five years in Brooklyn from 2016 until 2021, when he went to the Washington Wizards.

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