The Dallas Mavericks are awaiting a decision from star point guard Kyrie Irving on whether or not he will opt out of the final year of his contract.
Irving is expected to opt out, and ESPN insider Bobby Marks predicted what he will make on his next deal.
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However, if for some reason Irving doesn’t end up back in Dallas, Marks thinks the Mavericks could pivot and trade for Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday instead.
“I don’t think a pick [would be necessary to move Holiday’s deal],” Marks said on NBC Sports Boston‘s “The Off C-Season”. “Both of the two teams you mentioned, Chris, are interesting to me with Dallas and the Clip[pers]. They’re interesting to me because they have two players that have player options with Kyrie Irving (Mavericks) and James Harden with the Clippers. What happens with both those players I think will play a significant role as far as what the flexibility that the Clips will have and Dallas will have.
“The goal in Dallas is if you can try to lower that $43 million Irving option, and now that gives you operational power to maybe aggregate contracts, and the same with the Clips with Harden at 36, 37 million dollars. So those would probably be the two teams that I would probably circle as far as if there is a Jrue potential deal to be. I still think Jrue’s a heck of a player, and I don’t think you have to attach a pick to his contract.”
Holiday had a down year, averaging 11.1 PPG on 35.3% from three, and his contract may be difficult to trade for. But his defense would align perfectly with what Nico Harrison thinks he’s trying to set up with the team.
Irving has until June 24 to decide on whether or not to opt out of his contract.
READ MORE: Predicting Kyrie Irving’s next contract with Dallas Mavericks
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