Phil Handy's departure adds another wrinkle to Kyrie Irving's Mavericks future

After being brought in to pair with Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving's Dallas Mavericks trajectory has turned out to be anything but that. As the Mavericks continue moving on from the fallout of the Doncic trade and the firings of Nico Harrison and Jason Kidd, Dallas has now parted ways with another member of the previous regime: assistant coach Phil Handy. His departure adds yet another wrinkle to Irving's already uncertain future in Dallas.

Phil Handy’s departure adds to Kyrie Irving's uncertainty

As reported by Marc J. Spears, Handy left the Mavericks to join Nick Nurse's staff on the Philadelphia 76ers, reuniting with LeBron James, whom he coached during his Cleveland Cavaliers stint from 2015 to 2018 and with the Los Angeles Lakers from 2019 until 2024. More importantly for Dallas, Handy also coached Irving for two of his three seasons in Cleveland, also building a relationship with the Mavericks' star point guard.

Now, this doesn't mean Philadelphia is, or ever will be, a team to monitor for Irving. The 76ers' top-heavy payroll makes a trade for the Mavericks' star point guard difficult to envision.

This low-key move is part of a much broader picture, one in which Irving went from feeling like an invaluable part of the Mavericks' organization to now seemingly holding on by a thread. But just how did we get to this point?

Everything around Irving has changed in Dallas

Well, former Mavericks president of basketball operations Nico Harrison traded for Irving in 2023, sending Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 first-round pick, and two second-rounders to the Brooklyn Nets. Harrison's pre-existing relationship with Irving was also a significant factor in getting the deal done, as he previously served as Nike's vice president of basketball operations while Irving was a Nike athlete from 2011 to 2022.

However, just two years after acquiring Irving, with an NBA Finals appearance in between, Harrison parted ways with Doncic, sending him to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a future first-round pick. The player Irving was brought in to flank was gone just two years later, leaving Irving to fend for himself in Dallas' backcourt.

Then, Irving tore his ACL just a month later in March 2025. With Irving sidelined, Dallas fortuitously landed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, selecting Cooper Flagg and seemingly ushering in a new era.

Months after selecting Flagg No. 1, Dallas fired Harrison and, not long after, traded Davis, leaving the Mavericks more unrecognizable by the day. Then, with Irving still on the mend, the Mavericks hired Masai Ujiri following the 2025-26 season to take over Harrison's former role. One of Ujiri's first major decisions was moving on from Jason Kidd, another Irving confidant.

Irving's place in Dallas is getting harder to define

And it all comes with a major elephant in the room: Irving's age. The 34-year-old is now the oldest player on Dallas' roster, earning that distinction after the Mavericks waived 36-year-old Klay Thompson. With a team skewing younger, Irving already felt out of place, but perhaps never more so than now.

That, combined with Handy's departure, makes Irving feel truly out of place. The Mavericks no longer feature Irving's confidants and only roster a handful of players with whom he's even suited up. That's part of why, according to Marc Stein, NBA teams continue to monitor Irving (subscription required) despite Dallas previously rebuffing trade inquiries.

None of this guarantees Irving is headed out of Dallas, nor does Handy's departure alone suggest the Mavericks could be preparing to move their star point guard. He was extremely close to Irving.

But when viewed alongside the departures of Harrison and Kidd, the trade of Davis and Dallas' increasingly youthful roster, it's becoming harder to ignore just how much has changed around Irving.

For a player once brought in to be a cornerstone of the Mavericks' future, his place in that future is feeling less and less certain.

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