Suns Contacted Mavericks for Sign-and-Trade Involving Kyrie Irving

The Phoenix Suns' pursuit of Kyrie Irving didn't stop at the trade deadline.

The Phoenix Suns have been connected to Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving for awhile now, dating back to their interest in the build up to the league's trade deadline where NBA insider Shams Charania reported Phoenix submitted an offer to the Brooklyn Nets for his services.

Irving ultimately landed in Dallas, and the Suns shortly acquired Kevin Durant as the window of time began closing on opportunities to add players. 

However, Phoenix continued to maintain interest in Irving, a point guard whose talent on the court is only overshadowed by his controversy away from basketball. Charania also reported prior to the postseason on Phoenix's continued interest in Irving, who is expected to decline his player option and become a free agent this summer. 

Thanks to financial tightness on the salary cap/luxury tax, Phoenix's best chance to land Irving in a Suns uniform was a sign-and-trade, which is reportedly what they tried to initiate earlier in the offseason according to NBA insider Ian Begley.

"The Suns don’t have much trade capital left after acquiring Bradley Beal from the Wizards. So it’s fair to assume that they can’t make a trade for a top player like Kyrie Irving. But it’s worth noting that Phoenix had interest in Irving earlier in the offseason," said Begley.

"The Suns were among the teams to reach out to Dallas about a potential sign-and-trade for Irving earlier in the offseason, per sources familiar with the matter. Dallas, presumably, wasn’t interested in what the Suns offered at the time. If the Mavs were blown away by the offer, logic says that Beal wouldn't be a Sun today."

The Mavericks have been a constant team tied to Deandre Ayton, who is likely to be traded this summer. Phoenix also doesn't control half of their first-round draft picks for the foreseeable future thanks to their deal with Brooklyn to land Durant. 

Irving would be a more natural fit for the Suns' need for a point guard in a post-Chris Paul era, and he does have experience playing with Durant thanks to their tenure on the Nets. 

However, it's hard to imagine the Suns or their fans are disappointed with Beal.