Kyrie Irving is declining his $42.9 million player option for the 2025-26 season with the Dallas Mavericks and instead is planning to sign a three-year, $119 million extension with the franchise, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. The deal includes a player option for 2027-28.
That new deal can’t be officially agreed upon until July 6. With Irving expected to miss a significant chunk of the 2025-26 season recovering from a torn ACL, it makes sense he was interested in getting long-term security with his new deal.
For the Mavericks, they’re able to slightly lower Irving’s annual salary to help their cap situation while keeping Irving around for their hopeful bounce back as a contender with a team built around Irving, Anthony Davis and Cooper Flagg, who the team is expected to select with the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft on Wednesday night.
Cooper Flagg set to be top pick in 2025 NBA Draft: What to know before Mavericks select Duke freshman at No. 1
David Cobb
Irving, 33, averaged 24.7 points for Dallas last season, his third in the Lone Star State after he was acquired from the Nets midway through the 2022-23 season. Irving tore his ACL on March 3 against the Sacramento Kings, a devastating blow that came shortly after Davis, who was acquired in the controversial Luka Dončić trade, suffered an adductor strain in his Dallas debut. In seven games between Davis’ injury and Irving’s injury, Irving averaged 30.7 points, keeping Dallas afloat. That made his injury even more dispiriting.
However, the franchise received a much-needed boost in the form of shockingly winning the lottery, which gives them the opportunity to draft Flagg first overall. Now, they have their core locked in long term, even if it will take a bit for the new “Big Three” to share the court together.
Mavericks lock in roster core as they prepare for Flagg’s arrival
With Irving under contract through at least 2027-28, the Mavericks have both extended and aligned the contracts of their core. Davis also has a player option for 2027-28. The same goes for Caleb Martin and Max Christie, the latter of whom was also part of the Dončić trade.
Irving’s agreement also comes one day after Daniel Gafford agreed to a three-year, $54 million deal that ties him to Dallas through 2028-29.
Klay Thompson is under contract through 2026-27, and Dallas has a team option on Dereck Lively II each of the next two seasons, options they will almost certainly exercise considering the mobile, athletic big man has proved to be a terrific find with the 12th pick in the 2024 draft.
And once he’s aboard, Flagg will sign a four-year, $62.7 million deal according to Spotrac’s projections.
As such, there’s a clear timeline here: A Flagg and Davis tandem can potentially help the Mavericks be semi-competitive in 2025-26 as Irving recovers, but the real window emerges in 2026-27, when Irving is a year and a half removed from his injury, Flagg is entering his second season, and Davis, at 33, will be at the back end of his prime alongside an imposing front line that will feature Lively and Gafford as well.
Thompson and Christie are projected as wings who can provide shooting that season, and Martin and Naji Marshall, who played well in his Dallas debut season, could also factor in there. While point guard depth is a question mark, particularly as Irving rehabs, retooling around Flagg, Davis and Irving could bear long-awaited fruit for Dallas in a few years.
