Mavericks' NBA Title Odds Soar After Bad Kyrie Irving Trade
Dallas helped the Nets with their Kyrie Irving problem by sending now-former Mavs SG Spencer Dinwiddie, SF Dorian Finney-Smith and draft capital to Brooklyn in exchange for the biggest headache in the NBA.
DraftKings Sportsbook, along with the rest of the market, overreacted if you ask me. Dallas's NBA titles odds went from outside the top-10 pre-Kyrie Irving trade to inside the top-10 after the trade.
After cooler heads prevailed, the Mavericks' title odds fell to +1500 as of Sunday evening. But, still, who is possibly betting Dallas after adding Kyrie? I mean what else do you need to see?
Irving has requested a trade from two of the three teams he's played for and his 3rd team — Boston Celtics — was better before Kyrie got there and after he left.
Doing business with Kyrie Irving
There's an argument Irving is one of the worst professionals in NBA history. And that's saying something. The "Brooklyn Nets" section of Kyrie's Wikipedia page is absurd.
From a basketball perspective, I could see how the Mavericks front office talked itself into this trade. Luka Doncic is the White LeBron. Irving is an elite scorer who closed out the 2016 NBA Finals while playing with LeBron for the Cavaliers.
The thing is neither Luka nor Kyrie can play any defense. Doncic is a phenomenal playoff performer but Irving rarely finishes a season healthy and has gone missing in big games.
Also, how is this year's Mavericks better than last year's team that made the Western Conference finals? Jalen Brunson is more consistent than Kyrie, Finney-Smith is a good 3-and-D guy, and Dinwiddie is at least a contributor.
More importantly, Kyrie is going to find a way to screw this up. He always does. Maybe there's a political issue in Texas he'll raise a stink over. Perhaps Dallas doesn't immediately offer him the contract extension Irving thinks he deserves.
Either way, the Mavericks are going to regret getting into business with Kyrie Irving. There's no way I'm using any of my bankroll on Dallas Mavericks' futures.