Trade & FA 2025-26: Free Agency Starts 5pm CST/6pm EST

[KillerLeft]

I'd be scared of that, too. I think he's every bit as likely to opt in next year as AD will be to opt in the year after. This is why ATL wants off of him, and why Dallas probably shouldn't take him. Remember, this is a player they've been trying to trade for a while now. It doesn't seem like anyone is interested in getting into the Trae Young business, so I highly doubt he could be flipped for additional assets. More likely the Mavs would have to turn around and PAY some team to take him. Maybe a lot, maybe a little, but the asset package from ATL would have to be HUGE for me to want to do that. 

We can quibble over AD's value all day long, but he would be the best player in this deal by a wide margin, AND they want the Mavs to pay through the nose in tax to make the trade possible by getting themsevels stuck with a player they don't want and who can't play with Kyrie at all? 

I can't get there, sorry. I'm not sure ATL has ENOUGH to convince me, if I'm in the Mavs' shoes. I mean, that conversation would START with the Pelicans pick, tbh. I don't even consider that without it, and that's just the start of the negotiations. 

There's a wider range of returns I might accept in a Porzingis based deal, because I think I could flip his expiring for something useful, and if not, I can just let him expire.

One additional thought here: 

IF the Mavs take Young back, and I really hope they don't, I think it's more likely they're able to find a home for Kyrie Irving in another deal than Young. I think I'd have to be ready to think that way if I made this deal. You absolutely cannot have them both on the team next year, because even if you convinced one to come off the bench, there's really no way to play them together, even for 5 minutes per game. One of their roles is going to be TINY.