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February 09, 2023

Did Kyrie spike the #MFFL water at the American Airlines Center?

On Reddit Sunday, multiple Dallas Mavericks fans simply could not accept anybody saying the Kyrie Irving trade was less than fantastic. (I called it "ass.")

The first of three I ultimately blocked had even not once but twice said he didn't like it — before I and others said the same.

On the original post about the trade that had the most comment hits, he first said, and I quote, "oh no."

He later said, showing just how much of a tribalist noob he is:

I honestly would not have pulled the trigger, granted it's VERY hard not to if all they wanted was a 1 FRP and 2 players from a roster where everybody not from Slovenia is for sale. I can't fucking stand Kyrie but I really can't be mad here.

And, after one more exchange, it was "bye." Tribalism 101 on display right there.

I bet the dood buys one of those Kyrie jerseys, only to have to face burning it in 6 months.

Then, a second person, claiming I, but not the first Mavs guy, was too worked up over this, and thinking I was calling them not him (for his icon) "cutie pie" got blocked after two exchanged.

Sunday evening, a third guy did.

Oh, the trade IS "ass." Or as Kevin Pelton more politely put it at ESPN, "risky." My own take was the combo of three draft picks plus not dumping Bertans' contract made it ass. Commenters besides those three couldn't get the idea of the "combination."

Others did, though. A Pellies fan said it was worse than Dell Demps mismanaging the Anthony Davis trade. The comment before was:

Dallas let the "wasting Luka" talk get to them.

There you go.

Let's go better, via the email newsletter of Jay Busbee at Yahoo. After comparing Kyrie to Lindsay Lohan, this:

The Dallas Mavericks are now the latest team — after the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and New Jersey Nets — to think that they’re going to be the ones to capitalize on Irving’s phenomenal talent while keeping his infuriating, me-first, team-wrecking tendencies in check. ‌
Others have tried. For all of his accolades, including eight All-Star berths in 11-plus seasons, Irving has exactly one NBA championship, and that came in 2016, when LeBron James caught fire and brought the Cavaliers back from a 3-games-to-1 deficit against the Warriors. Granted, Irving hit a clutch 3 in Game 7 of that series, but regardless of where he's been, Kyrie has always played for himself, the latest example being his demand to be dealt out of New Jersey prior to this week’s trade deadline … or else. ‌
Irving’s departure brings a crashing end to what was supposed to be a new era of basketball in Brooklyn, a superteam that was supposed to set the league on fire but ended up only igniting itself. Kevin Durant’s decision to leave Golden State looks worse with every passing day; he’s all that’s left of the Nets’ would-be dynasty. Like Irving, he asked for a trade; unlike Irving, he didn’t threaten to blow a hole in the side of the franchise if he didn’t get what he wanted. Now KD might just end up out West too, and wouldn’t that be a fine bit of score-settling, if he ended up facing off against Irving in the playoffs? ‌
Assuming Kyrie's calf injury that, coincidentally enough, was going to keep him out of Nets' games through the trade deadline suddenly heals up, Irving now suits up for a Dallas team that sports Luka Doncic, a bonafide superstar, and Jason Kidd, a coach well-versed in the nuances dealing with temperamental point guards, since he was one himself.

THERE you go.

Odds? No more than 50-50 that Dallas re-signs him. IF that happens, 50-50 he forces a trade before that new contract is done. If he doesn't? IF that happens, no more than 50-50 odds he plays more than 55 games a year each of those four seasons.

Oh, and Mavs fans who think there was some "understanding" with the deal? Nope. And, per Yahoo quoting Mark Stein, they're going to let it play out a year. The Lake Show wanted a 2-year guarantee if they made the trade. Can't blame them.

And, boo fucking hoo for Kyrie saying he felt "disrespected" in Brooklyn. He'll be saying the same about Dallas at some point, Mavs fans.

Sidebar: "Can" the Nets expand this to a three-team deal? I posted this on Reddit in part to say, hey, could the Lake Show get back in? (I knew they couldn't, it was a troll.) But, it's also a troll of sort for the Mavs; if the Nets can expand this deal and it only benefits them, it would underscore Dallas paying too much. Obviously, they weren't able to. 

Sidebar 2: After the Lakers move, and especially after the Suns move to get KD, this looks like treading water at best.


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