5 things Dallas Mavericks must do to keep Kyrie Irving in free agency

Dallas Mavericks need to make partnership between Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving work

Irving has played next to another superstar for the last decade. It was LeBron James in Cleveland before Jayson Tatum in Boston and Kevin Durant in Brooklyn. Kyrie wants to have that talent around him, but he has not always found a way to maximize it. Irving spent just two seasons with the Celtics before leaving for the Nets in free agency. He spent three seasons with LeBron and just over three with KD. Historically, that is the shelf life of a partnership with Kyrie.

Luka and Kyrie are different players, and the Mavericks have struggled to mesh their styles. Doncic loves to run isolations and pick and rolls. He slows down the tempo and dissects the defense in the halfcourt. Kyrie prefers off-ball movement and a faster tempo. He likes to get easy buckets in transition and to find cracks in the defense that way.

Both players need to commit themselves to playing better defense. The Mavs traded their best perimeter defender to get Kyrie, so they need all the help that they can get on that end of the floor.

Head coach Jason Kidd must figure out how to maximize both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving when they are on the floor together. Dallas has two of the most talented players in the league. They just need to figure out their fit.

Will the Dallas Mavericks keep Kyrie Irving long-term? It will take some work, so stay tuned to see how it all shakes out.