'I'm Glad He's Out Of There': Mavs' Kyrie Irving Reacts to Suns' Kevin Durant Trade
LOS ANGELES — Less than a week ago, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant were teammates with the Brooklyn Nets. Irving, who just made his Dallas Mavericks debut on Wednesday night, found out about his former teammate, Durant, being traded to the Phoenix Suns. Irving had just led the Mavs to a 110-104 road win over the LA Clippers.
“This business changes so quickly,” Irving said. “He’s getting a little bit older; I’m getting a little bit older. I just love the competition now that we can be in the same conference and I welcome all of that. Will get to see him a little more, probably playing against Phoenix a lot more.
“That’s what I’m looking forward to. Everything else in-between, I’m just glad that he got out of there.”
The Suns reportedly traded Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks, and a 2028 pick swap for Durant and TJ Warren. In an already competitive Western Conference, adding another elite player into the mix will only make the landscape more challenging.
"I'm just praying for his happiness and well-being. We had a lot of conversations throughout the year of what our futures would look like," Irving said. "We just cared about seeing each other in places we could thrive. ... I'm glad he got out of there."
Irving has often alluded to events or factors that have occurred behind the scenes as being motivations for leaving the Nets. He revealed after his first performance with the Mavs that he had early doubts about staying long-term in Brooklyn.
“I think this was in the works after year one,” Irving said. “I was unsure about whether or not I wanted to be in Brooklyn because of things that were happening behind the scenes. I just did my best to put my head down and work as hard as I could.
“There were some unfortunate circumstances that came up there that were out of my control, whether it be the mandate with the vaccine [COVID-10] or missing games, being suspended.
“Little things that just put wrenches in our journey. Then we had James and we were supposed to be the Super Team. I would like to say something about this Super Team that everyone thinks should have worked. We played very limited time together and there were a lot of injuries that took place.
“I would like to have seen that work for the long-term, but there are no mistakes, no coincidences. Got to move forward. I’m happy I could look back on that journey and reflect and say I learned a lot of things from those guys and my teammates and that journey.”
There is still time for the other title contenders in the league to make a bold move to shake things further up. The official end of the trade deadline is on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET. With the Nets in a rebuild, perhaps former Mavs players Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie will be trade candidates to watch.
The first chance the Mavs have until they face the Suns next is on Mar. 5 at the American Airlines Center.
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