Kyrie Irving Rumors: Mavericks Gave 'No Assurances' of New Contract After Trade

Kyrie Irving "has no assurances of a subsequent contract" from the Dallas Mavericks following his reported trade to the team, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.

Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes reported the Mavericks are acquiring Irving from the Brooklyn Nets for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and draft picks.

Irving is making $38.9 million this season and becomes an unrestricted free agent in the offseason. ESPN's Tim MacMahon provided more context from Dallas' side:

According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, Alex Schiffer and Law Murray, the Nets made Irving an extension offer that included "guarantee stipulations." The proposed deal "was not well received."

Things broke down to a point where Haynes reported Irving would refuse to sign even a full four-year, $198 million max deal if Brooklyn presented it to him.

This raises obvious questions for the Mavericks.

If the Irving experiment is a disaster, then Dallas could wash its hands of the eight-time All-Star and let him become a free agent.

That scenario, however, would mean the Mavs gave up a first-round pick and a valuable two-way wing on a team-friendly deal—Finney-Smith is in the first year of a four-year, $55.6 million contract—for little to no long-term benefit. The franchise would be worse off in the immediate future as well after having lost Finney-Smith and Dinwiddie and sacrificing a trade asset that could've been leveraged later on.

Even if the team doesn't intend to negotiate in the middle of the current season, you'd assume Dallas made this trade with the idea of extending Irving's stay in the summer.

Given how his relationship with the Nets quickly deteriorated to a point of no return, tabling anything less than a max deal might lead him to again look elsewhere, though. And in the event that's the only price Irving will accept, walking away altogether might be the best choice.

You can understand the sense of desperation the Mavs feel.

They're sixth in the Western Conference at 28-26 and appeared destined for an early playoff exit without a significant addition. Dallas also has to keep Luka Dončić happy because there's no guarantee he sees out the entirety of his five-year $215.2 million extension with the team if he doesn't like its overall direction.

Still, the Mavericks might have been better off waiting until the offseason and pursuing a trade that didn't carry so much risk.