Don’t expect the Mavericks to trade for Kyrie Irving

A group of aliens has landed on Earth and its primary target is Kyrie Irving. They have made access to his brain and have hit some switch that makes him not want to play with LeBron James anymore.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported Friday that the All-Star point guard has asked for the Cleveland Cavaliers to trade him so he could be the “focal point” and not play alongside the three-time NBA champion and Finals MVP.

He wants to leave Cleveland. Where LeBron James plays. And has been to three straight NBA Finals. He wants to leave that.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN also reports that the San Antonio Spurs (God, help us all) is one of Irving’s preferred teams (Chris Haynes of ESPN adds the Knicks, Heat and Timberwolves are also preferred destinations). Left is right, up is down and basketball drama is all we live for. But we need to talk about this, because it’s going to be brought up until something actually happens (or doesn’t). Hell, I brought it up.

In a world where the Dallas Mavericks could have their cake and eat it too, this would be wonderful. Unfortunately, ESPN’s trade machine doesn’t allow us to have nice things for just pennies on the dollar.

The Mavericks would love to have an All-Star guard that gives them 25 points easy and possesses some of the most insane ball-handling skills this side of the Mississippi. They would love to have him be the primary scorer in a backcourt with an exciting rookie like Dennis Smith Jr.

But in order for Dallas to get said All-Star guard that scores 25 a night, it would have to include that exciting rookie named Dennis Smith Jr. in a trade.

If that’s the case, then no thanks.

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

The Mavericks are not going to win right now by trading for Irving. Yes, it would be exciting. It might even get Dallas back into the playoffs. Getting a borderline superstar is normally worth it, especially at 25 years old. He still sticks to Dallas’ plan of having a young core to develop heading into the post-Dirk Nowitzki era. Dallas’ willingness to finally build through the draft, however, should not be tossed aside because Kyrie has lost his mind and doesn’t want to play with the best player in the world anymore.

And no, that Dwight Powell-Wes Matthews package will not be enough.

Any trade the Mavericks try and facilitate with the Cavaliers regarding Irving will include Smith, and that’s not a path Dallas should cross. No one has a clue how good Smith will be. Dallas hopes he blossoms into the Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook-type of player he models his game after. I’d rather the Mavericks bank on him becoming their own superstar then throwing all the chips in and going after Irving, who doesn’t guarantee any sort of immediate winning, even in Dallas.

Kyrie will be the focal point in Dallas. He’ll get that chance, but this isn’t the right way to build for the future. As great as it would be, Smith needs to be in Dallas’ future plans. He won’t be if the Mavericks want Kyrie.