Kyrie Irving’s contract considerations for this offseason 

Widely expected to sign his player option while he rehabs, Kyrie Irving may actually see a larger deal brought to the table for him

Prior to the Dallas Mavericks winning their first Play-In Tournament game over the Sacramento Kings last Wednesday night, Shams Charania joined NBA Countdown and shared an update on Kyrie Irving’s injury status. Though a potential January return garnered all the attention, Shams dropped an even more intriguing bit of news relative to Irving’s contract situation this coming Offseason.

Irving can opt-in to a player option he has on the contract he signed in the Offseason following his trade to Dallas. Seeing as he endured a major injury back on March 3^rd, it isn’t a stretch to think Irving will lock in that final year and the $44 million it comes with. Seeing as he will miss a meaningful part of the 2025-26 season rehabbing from his ACL surgery, it’s much smarter money than opting out to test free agency. Except, maybe it isn’t.

According to Charania, the Mavericks have a strong inclination to make Irving an even better deal than the $44 million single-year opt-in. Such a deal would be to the tune of a three-year contract. While some may question the wisdom of locking in a 33-year old coming off ACL surgery for three more years, there appears to at least be a rationale here. A new three-year deal for Irving would mean that both he and Anthony Davis would see their contracts expire at the same time (should Davis opt-in to a player option of his own). Even more interesting, Charania suggests such a move would also line up both players with Nico Harrison’s contract expiry (note: details of Harrison’s contract were not officially released to the public when he signed an extension last June, but Charania stating this as fact is likely enough to go on).

For the cross-section of fans that want the Mavericks to completely blow this team up and begin a rebuild ASAP, this is surely not the news they want to hear. For what little comfort it will bring those people, the Mavs were never going to do a rebuild under the current regime anyway. It’s impossible to believe that Nico Harrison will deviate from his absolute commitment to this team as currently constructed around Irving and Davis. With that reality in mind, locking Irving up makes a lot of sense. If the Mavs somehow lose Irving in the next year, just think of the state the franchise will be in then. Irving may end up returning sooner than expected and assuming the team can return to the form it showed in the two-and-a-half quarters they had together in February, that should at least provide hope for a championship window, however short it may be.

There is another apparent layer of subtext such a contract extension would imply. Harrison’s prior indications of a “future” that covers only the next few years, as well as his comments pertaining to his commitment to finishing out his contract, strongly suggest that this team’s run is through the 2027 season. Thereafter, it’s more reasonable than ever to believe the people on both the floor and in the front office will look very different. With limited control of their draft capital over the next few years, the dreaded barren cupboard may become a reality that a new front office is tasked with fixing. Here’s to hoping Irving returns to form quickly and the Mavs can make legitimate noise for the next few years until the bill potentially comes due.