Mavericks Notes: Ross, Irving, Harrison, Doncic, Trade Breakdown

The Mavericks thought they had a verbal commitment from Terrence Ross after the veteran wing secured a buyout from the Magic, Marc Stein reports in a Substack story.

Dallas found out on Saturday night that Ross chose the Suns instead. It’s possible that Ross had a financial motive, since Phoenix had leftover money from its midlevel exception while Dallas could only offer the prorated veteran minimum, but we still don’t know what his deal with the Suns will look like.

The Mavs pivoted to Justin Holiday after getting spurned by Ross.

We have more on the Mavericks:

  • Kyrie Irving had a message for the media during his introductory news conference on Monday. He requested that they not ask about his future plans beyond this season, Tim MacMahon of ESPN relays. Irving will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. “It puts unwarranted distractions on us and our team,” Irving said. “I’ve dealt with it before, and it’s very emotionally draining to ask questions like, ‘What’s the long term? What’s the long term?'”
  • Even though Irving could turn out to be a rental, GM Nico Harrison said he had no qualms about acquiring the mercurial guard, MacMahon tweets. “I don’t see any risk at all. I actually see risk in not doing it,” Harrison said.
  • The Athletic’s Tim Cato takes a look at the early returns on the Luka Doncic-Irving partnership. Cato notes that the trade has eaten into the Mavs’ depth and has created more defensive issues. On the flip side, the offense has hummed when they’ve played together and the team is more competitive when Doncic needs a breather.
  • While the Mavs are 0-2 with Doncic and Irving playing together, Doncic is excited about his new backcourt partner, MacMahon writes. “He’s an amazing basketball player, and I think it’s going to be really fun,” Doncic said.
  • In a story for SportsBusinessClassroom.com, Eric Pincus breaks down all the financial aspects of the Kyrie trade with the Nets, including the math behind Irving’s and Finney-Smith’s trade bonuses.
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