Before the Nets agreed to send Kyrie Irving to Dallas, the Clippers made an offer that included Luke Kennard, Terance Mann, a future first-round pick, and two first-round pick swaps, league sources tell Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. As O’Connor notes, at least one more outgoing salary would’ve been required for the Clippers to accommodate Irving’s incoming cap hit, but he says that was the “gist” of L.A.’s offer.
Since the Clippers already owe their 2024 and 2026 first-round picks to Oklahoma City and have given OKC swap rights in 2023 and 2025, we can safely assume that their alleged offer for Irving would’ve included their 2028 first-rounder, with swap rights in 2027 and 2029 — the Stepien rule doesn’t allow teams to leave themselves without first-round picks in consecutive future years, while the “seven year rule” doesn’t permit clubs to trade draft picks more than seven years out.
For what it’s worth, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on the latest episode of his Lowe Post podcast (YouTube link) that he doesn’t believe O’Connor’s reporting is accurate and that he thinks the Clippers’ final offer for Irving was worth less than that.
Whatever the offer was, it wasn’t enough to entice Brooklyn to make a deal, so the Clippers will now have to adjust to the fact that Irving will be playing alongside Luka Doncic for one of their conference rivals.
“Don’t make me think about it right now, please,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said on Monday when asked about the Mavericks‘ new backcourt duo (Twitter link via Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times). “We play them Wednesday. I don’t want to think about that already. It’s going to be a tough challenge. Kyrie’s a guy we’ve always blitzed in the past, Luka’s always a guy we’ve blitzed in the past, and now they got two of them, so like I said, it’s going to be a tough challenge for a lot of teams in the West.”
Here are a few more tidbits related to the Kyrie trade, which became official on Monday:
- Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link) has the details on the new cap hits for Irving, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Spencer Dinwiddie following the trade. The cap figures for Irving and Finney-Smith got a bump as a result of trade bonuses, while Dinwiddie’s declined because some of his bonuses are now considered unlikely instead of likely. Those bonuses are tied to his team’s playoff success and are based on the previous season’s results — they had been considered likely because the Mavericks made the Western Finals last season, but Dinwiddie’s new team, the Nets, didn’t win a playoff series in 2022.
- Irving’s track record of recruiting star teammates was a factor in the Mavericks‘ desire to acquire him, according to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Based on reporting at the time, it was Kyrie who convinced Kevin Durant to join him in Brooklyn back in 2019 when the two stars opted to sign with the Nets.
- Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said on Monday that he’s looking forward to coaching Dinwiddie and Finney-Smith, but wishes Irving nothing but the best in Dallas, per Nick Friedell of ESPN. “My interactions with Kai have always been positive,” Vaughn said. “I enjoyed coaching him. I want him to succeed. I’ll keep it that simple. We’ve had some ups and downs I guess along the way. I’ve also seen the young man score 60 points. I’ve also seen him bring his kids into the locker room. I’ve also seen him grow as an individual and be a better teammate than when I first met him. So for me, I’m going to always look at the good in people and want the good in people. And I want him to succeed.”
“I don’t believe that to be accurate. Whatever the offer was, was less than that, and maybe substantially less than that, and that they were not in it at the end.” – Zach Lowe
Pathetic journalism by Hoops Rumors to state “Ultimately, the offer wasn’t enough to entice Brooklyn to make a deal,”
You operate under the premise that “sources” are either legitimate or telling the truth to reporters. Zach Lowe has a better track record than most other reporters, with all due respect.
Had missed Lowe’s comments — thanks for the heads-up. I’ve added them now.
For what it’s worth, O’Connor has a pretty strong track record too, and Lowe didn’t necessarily seem to have a finger on the pulse of the Clippers/Kyrie stuff (a day before Woj identified them as a suitor, Lowe had said he didn’t expect them to get involved), so who knows!
Thanks for updating the article. I see your point, however Woj seems to be a mouthpiece for the Nets (i.e., suggesting Harden wouldn’t be traded last year) and Ian Begley insinuated on SNY that the Clippers-related rumors might be coming from the Nets.
I been reading so many fake trade offers by some of these click bait sites. One saying OKC tried to trade for Westbrook. Another claiming Nets refused a offer to lakers because they didn’t want to trade him there while another said the Nets wanted Lakers 2 young players in the deal.
Because Kyrie recruited KD back in 2019 the Macs think he’ll be able to recruit stars to Dallas. Well Kyrie’s reputation has taken a few hits since 2019. The guy has shown multiple times that he’ll quit on his teammates.
Kyrie is very talented but also very toxic. These days, chemistry is the key to winning championships because it takes sacrifices by all. Kyrie doesn’t sacrifice anything so his talent doesn’t truly play in a championship run.
I knew that salary is not matching
Clippers need to add Zubac
I’d take Clippers offer if Clippers add Zubac
Then send Zubac/Finley smith to Raltors for ….
zubac is a key player for the clippers… if they would just pass him the ball once in a while… is he the only nba player with more free throws than shot attempts.
I can’t see many stars available who’d want to go there after the way he stabbed KD in the back…
First Lebron, then Boston, now KD…
It doesn’t matter how the team is going or what he says he wants to do, because he could suddenly wake up one day and think, trade me…
The Mavs were a fun team to watch… Oh well, the NBA loves to drum up drama and drama in Texas could sell as well as Brooklyn…
Dallas already was winning with Luka. They now have Luka and Kyrie. How many more “stars” do they need???
Luka shows up to enough games…
Dallas will be a lone star show…
You forgot that he chased Harden out of Brooklyn also
The Mavs had to do something. last night is the first time they won without Luka all year. They need to resign Wood instead of trading him.