Kyrie Irving is sticking with the Dallas Mavericks.
Irving declined his $43 million player option for next season on Tuesday night ahead of the deadline, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. He intends to sign a new three-year, $119 million deal with the franchise in the near future, however, which will keep him out of free agency this summer.
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Irving’s new deal includes a player option for the 2027-28 season. The new deal will pay Irving about $40 million per season.
Though he had the chance to leave, Irving was never expected to make a move away from the Mavericks this summer. The nine-time All-Star is currently recovering from a torn ACL he sustained in March.
Irving averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 50 games last season with the Mavericks. The Mavericks reportedly hope that the 33-year-old will be back on the floor playing again around January. His new deal, however, enables the Mavericks to unlock a $5.7 mid-level exception to pursue a guard in free agency to take his place in the meantime, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
The deal is the second one the Mavericks have made this week. They also struck a three-year, $54 million deal with center Daniel Gafford on Monday to bolster their frontcourt even more.
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The two new contracts come ahead of Wednesday’s NBA Draft, too, where the Mavericks are expected to select former Duke star Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick. The Mavericks, who were thrust into turmoil in the wake of their decision to trade star Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers ahead of the deadline last season, won the draft lottery for the first time in franchise history despite entering it with a less than 2% chance to do so.
Though Irving is still months away from even playing again, and he’s undoubtedly on the back half of his career, the Mavericks have locked down their star guard for the foreseeable future.
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