NBA Insider Says 'No One' Expects Kyrie Irving, James Harden to Leave Mavs, Clippers

The NBA's already-thin free-agent pool this summer could get even more shallow with neither Kyrie Irving nor James Harden likely to move on from their current situations.

Per NBA insider Jake Fischer, there is "no one" in the league who expects Irving to leave the Dallas Mavericks or James Harden to leave the Los Angeles Clippers:

"No one, to be clear, is forecasting Irving or Harden to leave their current situations in Dallas and Los Angeles. Long before he sustained a season-ending knee injury in early March, Irving was widely projected to re-sign this summer with the Mavericks. Harden, meanwhile, appears to be no less entrenched in Clipperland … even after LA's disappointing first-round exit to the Denver Nuggets."

This isn't a huge surprise in either case. There was an argument for the Mavs to move on from Irving following the end of the regular season when it looked like the franchise was poised for an extended fallow period, but winning the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery with Cooper Flagg on the board completely altered their short- and long-term outlook.

Irving's contract will be a storyline to follow, as he recovers from a torn ACL suffered on March 3. He holds a $44 million player option for the 2025-26 season.

Fischer noted there are rumblings the Mavericks will attempt to use Irving's option as a potential starting point in negotiations, with the hope they can get him to extend him "for the next three seasons in the same annual ballpark of $40 million" that he signed for in July 2023.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported on May 14 that Dallas intends to add another point guard this summer, either via free agency or trade, and that Irving is targeting a January return.

Harden, who has a $36.3 million player option for next season, enjoyed a nice rebound year with the Clippers in 2024-25. He was named to the All-NBA third team after averaging 22.8 points, 8.7 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game in 79 starts.

ESPN's Bobby Marks noted the Clippers are in a position to give Harden a salary increase, while also maintaining the non-taxpayer midlevel exception to potentially make upgrades to their roster.

Considering Josh Giddey (restricted) and Fred VanVleet (player option) are the next best point guards who might be available this summer, the Clippers will likely be better off by running it back with Harden as the primary running mate with Kawhi Leonard.

That duo helped the Clippers win 50 games in the regular season to earn the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference. They took the Denver Nuggets to seven games in the first round of the playoffs before losing.