The Dallas Mavericks were the talk of the NBA for only a few days, as there has been a lot more moving and shaking happening around the league of late.
Perennial all-star Kyrie Irving joined the Mavericks’ roster after a trade on Sunday with the Brooklyn Nets. He wowed in his first game wearing a Dallas No.2 jersey, as The Dallas Express recently reported.
Irving joins superstar Luka Doncic in the Mavericks’ backcourt. Doncic averages 30 points per game, Irving 27.
However, Doncic has missed the Mavericks’ last three games with a right heel contusion. He might return for Dallas’ Friday or Saturday night games in Sacramento. He was upgraded to “questionable” from “out” on the NBA’s injury report on Friday.
The acquisition of Irving has put the Mavericks (30-26) in contention for the Western Conference title and perhaps an NBA championship.
As Mavs head coach Jason Kidd told ESPN earlier this week, “This gives us another weapon. Someone is going to be free. Someone is going to have the advantage.”
But only 72 hours later, the Phoenix Suns (also 30-26) one-upped the Mavericks by working out a deal with the Nets for 6-foot-10-inch forward Kevin Durant, considered by some to be the league’s best player.
Durant, 34, joins a Suns roster that includes all-star guards Devin Booker and Chris Paul and former No.1 overall draft choice Deandre Ayton, a 7-foot center. Durant was averaging 29.7 points per game this season in 39 games with the Nets.
The move was the first for new Suns owner Mat Ishbia, who was introduced as the owner of the team on Wednesday.
“My belief system is about how do we focus on winning?” the billionaire mortgage lender was quoted as saying by The Arizona Republic.
“Can we improve our chances of winning a championship? Can we do things to make sure of that, but I’m not just a short-term thinker. I’m also a long-term thinker.”
The Suns lost one of their two promising young players in the trade. Forwards Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson will be joining the Nets.
Durant will be out of action until after the All-Star break on February 28. He has a strained right knee ligament.
The Suns made the NBA Finals in 2021, losing to the Milwaukee Bucks.
LAKERS SHIFT GEARS
The Los Angeles Lakers, another Western Conference rival of the Mavericks, overhauled their roster with several trades.
Wednesday night, they gave up on the experiment of pairing all-star guard Russell Westbrook with superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Westbrook, a former NBA MVP, was traded to the Utah Jazz as part of a three-way deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Jazz have been discussing buying out Westbrook’s contract and making him a free agent.
To replace Westbrook, the Lakers acquired D’Angelo Russell, who was a No.1 draft pick by the Lakers in 2015, from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Westbrook came to the Lakers before the 2021-2022 season as a free-agent signee. He was thought to be the missing piece for another Lakers championship team, but injuries to James and Davis derailed the team’s hopes. Westbrook had trouble fitting in, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham and Westbrook had a heated exchange in the locker room at halftime on Tuesday night as James broke the all-time NBA scoring record, ESPN reported.
Thursday, center Thomas Bryant went to the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers took Davon Reed and three second-round picks in return.
Also, former Lakers guard Patrick Beverley was sent to the Orlando Magic for 7-footer Mo Bamba.
IN OTHER NOTABLE TRADES
— Former No.2 overall pick James Wiseman was traded to the Detroit Pistons by the Golden State Warriors as part of a multi-team trade. In the same deal, the Pistons sent forward Saddiq Bey to the Atlanta Hawks.
— The Los Angeles Clippers, trying to solidify their lineup in the Western Conference race, picked up point guard Bones Hyland from the Denver Nuggets and shooting guard Eric Gordon from the Houston Rockets.
— Jae Crowder, a former member of the Phoenix Suns, wound up back in Milwaukee after being sent to Brooklyn in the Durant deal. The 10-year veteran, a 6-foot-6 forward, was a part-time starter for the Suns for chunks of two seasons and was regarded as one of their top defenders.
— Gary Payton II returns to Golden State from the Portland Trail Blazers. Payton was part of the Warriors’ 2022 championship team but signed with the Blazers as a free agent in the offseason.
