Mavericks got the steal of the offseason again — and it's not remotely close

The Dallas Mavericks' offseason moves are seemingly over, as their roster already has 16 standard contracts on it (meaning they'll have to dump someone in a trade or waive them before the season begins), and them signing Kyrie Irving to a three-year deal back in June 24 was undoubtedly the steal of the summer despite it not getting talked about enough.

While Irving was always expected to return to Dallas, him coming back on a three-year deal worth just $119 million is at an incredible value for the Mavericks. Irving is recovering from a torn ACL thtat he, which likely drove his value down a bit, but keeping your franchise cornerstone for under $40 million annually is a deal that every Mavs fan should be thrilled about.

On top of the fact that Irving will be staying in Dallas to run the show for the next three years, his team-friendly deal also gifted the Mavericks the taxpayer mid-level exception, which ultimately allowed them to sign D'Angelo Russell to a two-year deal.

Kyrie Irving's three-year deal is the gift that keeps on giving

Without Irving putting the team first, the Mavericks would have been limited to just veteran minimum deals when searching for their new starting point guard to replace Irving for the first half of the season, and that would have been a nightmare. Russell is a major upgrade from anyone the Mavs could have signed for a veteran minimum deal, and when analyzing how much Irving's contract means for Dallas, it always must be remembered that Russell wouldn't be a Maverick if Irving didn't take that hometown discount.

Nico Harrison will always be heavily criticized by Mavericks fans thanks to his decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, but outside of that move, he has quietly made a plethora of outstanding moves that have helped turn the Mavs into one of the best teams in the Western Conference. His trades for Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington were major reasons that Dallas was able to reach the 2024 NBA Finals, and he followed up that Finals run with an offseason for the ages.

Last offseason, the Mavericks made multiple major steals, including a trade for Quentin Grimes and a sign-and-trade for Klay Thompson, but Harrison signing Naji Marshall to a three-year, $27 million deal was quietly the most effective move. Marshall ended up averaging 13.2 points per game, a new career-high for him, and he was one of Dallas' most consistent role players all season long.

Mavs fans feared that Marshall wouldn't be able to replace Derrick Jones Jr.'s impact, as Dallas ultimately let Jones Jr. walk to chase Marshall, but Marshall replaced him valiantly and gave them much-needed playmaking and guard play during their brutal injury spell.

Without Marshall, the Mavericks would have been in a brutal spot as they dealt with one of the craziest series of injuries in NBA history, and Harrison, following up last summer with an extremely productive offseason this year, deserves to be commended.

On top of the Irving signing, Dallas made some other great moves, including signing Daniel Gafford to a three-year extension and drafting Cooper Flagg, and the Mavericks look to be set up for years to come. The Mavs and Irving agreeing to terms on his new contract on June 24 was perfect timing, as they drafted Flagg less than 24 hours later, and it hasn't gotten the credit it deserves.