The talented and controversial point guard Kyrie Irving got his wish. The Brooklyn Nets are trading him up, and he will now play for the Dallas Mavericks, a person familiar with the situation said Sunday.
The Mavs will ditch in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and a package of draft picks, the source told The Associated Press, requesting anonymity because neither team has made the deal official.
Dallas will thus be made a star that accompanies Luka Doncic, candidate for the Most Valuable Player.
The trade came just days after Irving told the Nets he wanted to leave. He wasn’t with Brooklyn during Saturday night’s game — the team claimed he was injured and had been given a leave of absence from the arena.
The reality is that Irving has ended a stormy stay in Brooklyn.
He signed with his hometown team in 2019, hoping to win a title playing alongside Kevin Durant.
But one conflict followed another. He missed almost every home game last season due to his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Earlier this season, he was handed an eight-game ban after emphatically failing to disclaim anti-Semitic beliefs after tweeting a link to a movie.