NBA Exec Predicts Kyrie Irving Will Opt Out of Contract, Stay with Mavs in Free Agency

An NBA executive told ESPN's Tim Bontemps that Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving could opt out of his contract and instead sign a long-term deal to help give the team some financial flexibility this summer.

"Another exec predicted Irving will opt out of his contract this summer and sign a longer-term deal for a number starting below his $44 million player option to give the Mavericks some wiggle room below the first apron," Bontemps wrote. With Irving also expected to miss a large part of the 2025-26 season, Harrison will need to add reinforcements."

Irving suffered a torn ACL on Monday and will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season. His status for the 2025-26 campaign remains unclear.

Before suffering the injury, Irving was averaging 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists across his first 50 appearances, and he figured to be the focal point of a team that was pushing to make noise in the Western Conference playoffs after the Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis blockbuster.

As things stand, the Mavericks have cap allocations of $216.1 million on the books entering the summer.