Pistons Must Convince Mavs to Make Kyrie Irving Trade for Landscape-Altering Move amid NBA Rumors<br

The Detroit Pistons have found a winning formula with MVP-level play from Cade Cunningham and an elite defense.

They've also seen the limitations of this design.

They are, without a doubt, one of the NBA's top teams. Yet, it's hard to place them within the inner circle of championship contenders when the same issue that tripped them up last postseason—the lack of a second creator and scorer alongside Cunningham—has yet to be addressed.

If the Pistons could lab-create this co-star for Cunningham, they might build something bearing a striking resemblance to Kyrie Irving: historically shifty off the dribble, wildly efficient as a scorer and even championship-experienced in this very role. An Irving trade feels like a no-brainer for Detroit, then, if it can just convince the Dallas Mavericks to play ball.

That reportedly won't be easy. Not yet, anyway. Between Dallas' hot start and the smooth-as-silk on-court connection between Irving and Cooper Flagg, this situation has The Athletic's Sam Amick ready to declare "I'd lean strongly toward Irving staying put at this point."

And yet, front-office folks haven't ditched the idea of an Irving deal.

"When you talk to rival teams about players who would truly change the playoff landscape if they were dealt, and who are widely expected to generate serious interest because of that belief, Irving still tops the list," Amick wrote. "Never mind that the Mavericks, and Irving for that matter, have shown no signs of wanting a split. Quite the opposite, in fact."

Is this all just wishful thinking from NBA organizations not based in Dallas? Perhaps, but even if it's nothing more, it still stems from a place of logical thought.

The Mavericks have a 19-year-old centerpiece in Flagg. They have very little in the way of guaranteed building blocks around him. And since they were previously sacrificing long-term assets to make some win-now attempts with Luka Dončić, they won't have control of their own first-round pick until 2031.

They need a way to brighten their future. And for all the tricks up the sleeve of a magician like Irving, he remains powerless on this particular front.

Irving is 34 years old. He'll turn 35 before the curtains fall on this campaign. He is slated to reach free agency by 2028 at the latest, and he could expedite his visit to next summer by declining a $42.4 million player option for 2027-28.

Are the Mavericks fully willing to ignore all of that for whatever win-now hopes they've generated over the first few weeks? That seems awfully risky, particularly when a team like the Pistons could (and almost certainly would) outfit them with a healthy package of roster-building assets to tailor their team around Flagg's talents—and timeline.

Several teams would probably pay a premium for Irving, in fact, but Detroit has the most credible case for being one Irving acquisition away from making a title run. Cunningham is that good, and so is this defense. The Pistons' trade offer (likely built around Ron Holland II, maybe rookie Ebuka Okorie and draft compensation) would reflect that belief.

This only matters, of course, if the Mavericks are willing to entertain Irving trade talks.

There are reasons to believe they should be, but it falls on the Pistons to communicate those reasons effectively. Because if Detroit finds a way to land Irving, then it may find a way to transform this regular-season success into a midsummer celebration.