Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving doesn't want to talk contract extension: 'It puts unwarranted distractions on us'
Kyrie Irving doesn’t want to talk about his future in Dallas or elsewhere.
Irving — speaking ahead of his home debut with the Mavericks on Monday, after landing there in a blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets earlier this month — insisted that he doesn’t want to talk about a possible contract extension, something he and the Mavericks have agreed not to discuss until after the season.
Doing so now, Irving said, would create a distraction.
"It puts unwarranted distractions on us and our team," he said via ESPN. "I've dealt with it before, and it's very emotionally draining to ask questions like, 'What's the long-term? What's the long-term?'"
Irving: ‘I'm just taking it one day at a time’
Irving is due to be a free agent in the upcoming offseason. He’s eligible to sign a two-year, $83 million extension during the season or a four-year, $220.6 million deal in free agency. He could re-sign with Dallas for up to $272 million over five years, too.
While Irving says he doesn’t want to create unnecessary distractions in Dallas, he created plenty in recent months while in Brooklyn — whether it was his refusal to get vaccinated for COVID-19 or his promotion of an antisemitic film that led to a suspension this season.
Despite the baggage that comes with Irving and the undoubted interest from others in the league in the coming months, Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison said he doesn’t “see any risk involved” with bringing Irving in now.
“I’ve known Kyrie for a long time. I know his core,” Harrison said via ESPN. “I know what kind of person he is. I think anybody that’s ever watched him play basketball knows the type of basketball player he is. So I don't see the risk involved. I actually see the risk in not doing the deal.”
Monday marked Irving’s fourth game in Dallas and second alongside Mavericks star Luka Doncic. Irving dropped 36 points — 26 in the fourth quarter — in Dallas’ 124-121 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves at the American Airlines Center.
While it’s still early, Irving has enjoyed his time in Dallas so far. And for as long as he can, he says he isn't going to focus on what’s looming this summer.
"I will say that from the start, from when I came here, there's been nothing but a warm embrace, nothing but genuine love and nothing but a familiarity of relationships that I can really look to in times of questioning or confusion," Irving said via ESPN. "There's just a positive note there. I'm just taking it one day at a time. That's all I can do in this life. What the future holds is really only going to be dictated on what I do right now and how I prepare for those next steps, and that's being the best teammate that I can be in that locker room and a great leader out here and within the Dallas community and within the NBA. I'll just continue to be myself.
"So I'm just putting that to bed and just focusing on what we have ahead of us as a team."
