Why the Dallas Mavericks should not worry about the Lakers stealing Kyrie Irving

Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving has been the topic of conversation in recent days. Chatter about him leaving to join LeBron James in Los Angeles next season has Dallas fans worried about a doomsday scenario, and Lakers supporters thinking they are going to get another shot at a title.

However, this scenario isn't as likely as many would be led to believe by certain national media personalities. Many factors are being ignored that make this move unlikely, although not entirely impossible.

Why the Dallas Mavericks should not worry about the Lakers stealing Kyrie Irving

3. Money

For starters, Kyrie can make $47 million next season if he signs a max contract. Irving turned 30 years old this past March. Unless he signs a short-term contract for one or two seasons, he will be at least 33 before he hit the free-agent market again.

Considering his history of being somewhat aloof and injury prone (he's averaged only 48 games played per season over the last six years), it is a little difficult to imagine an NBA team offering him a max deal entering his age-33 or 34 seasons.

At this stage of his career, it wouldn't make much sense for him to sacrifice tens of millions of dollars for what could be his last opportunity to sign a max deal. Instead, if he does what is in his best interest financially, he would sign for as much money as possible.

Now, to keep things simple, let's assume he signs for the max and is then traded to the Lakers via a sign-and-trade. Next season, LeBron James is set to make $46.9 million, Kyrie $47 million, and Anthony Davis $40.6 million. Those three guys would combine to make $134.5 million. The salary cap for 2023-2024 is $134 million.

Without factoring in anyone else on the roster, that means that the Lakers would already be over the salary cap just from those three guys alone.

Making things more complicated for L.A., the Lakers also have D'Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Lonnie Walker IV, and Austin Reaves (among others) entering free agency this offseason. All things considered, Reaves would most likely be the only one that could realistically be retained.

The financial situation leads to the next hurdle, which is roster building.