![\"Dallas](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2190770730.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The Timberwolves are officially done playing it safe. With Ja Morant off the table, Minnesota is now eyeing Kyrie Irving as a potential blockbuster move to elevate Anthony Edwards and chase the West.<\/p>\n
The pool of competing NBA<\/a> teams has started to narrow down. After Sunday\u2019s regular season finale, only 20 teams remain, with some bound for the play-in tournament while others wait for the start of the first round of the playoffs this weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n For the clubs that have already stepped foot into the offseason, things will only intensify from here.\u00a0<\/p>\n Major storylines are expected to gobble up the NBA landscape this summer, from where the Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> and Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> will go to what the Memphis Grizzlies<\/a> decide to do with Ja Morant<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among those in play for some major retooling are the Dallas Mavericks<\/a>, who are once again lottery-destined after a trying regular season.\u00a0<\/p>\n The only positive for the Mavericks over the 82-game marathon was Rookie of the Year frontrunner Cooper Flagg<\/a>, who assembled one of the most impressive first-year seasons in recent history.\u00a0<\/p>\n GettyDallas Mavericks star Cooper Flagg<\/a>.<\/p>\n With Dallas dialed in on building a strong collection of talent around Flagg, the franchise\u2019s future cornerstone, it must get busy in making moves starting now.<\/p>\n That could mean dealing a former champion in a blockbuster move.\u00a0<\/p>\n Former NBA All-Star Guard on the Move This Summer?\u00a0<\/p>\n The Mavericks are currently working with a funky roster.\u00a0<\/p>\n Flagg is the centerpiece and the unquestioned face of the franchise, but the pieces around him are on varying timelines, starting with star guard Kyrie Irving<\/a>, who hasn\u2019t played in over a year as he continues to rehab a torn ACL.\u00a0<\/p>\n Irving was originally brought into the organization to create a superstar duo with Luka Doncic<\/a>. Of course, that ship has sailed.\u00a0<\/p>\n With Doncic long gone and his successor firmly installed, it leaves Irving in a gray area. As a veteran and multi-time All-Star, what would make more sense for Irving is to move to a team in win-now mode.\u00a0<\/p>\n While there hasn\u2019t been any official reports on Dallas looking to shop Irving this summer, many signs point to it being a strong possibility, which is why the 34-year-old Mavericks star is seeing his name in hypothetical trade proposals.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bleacher Report released an article on key trades that could become reality this offseason. One proposal sends Irving to a Western Conference contender<\/a> that could use some star help in the backcourt.\u00a0<\/p>\n The trade:<\/p>\n Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> Receive: Kyrie Irving<\/a>, Brook Lopez<\/p>\n Los Angeles Clippers<\/a> Receive: Rudy Gobert<\/a><\/p>\n Dallas Mavericks Receive: Derrick Jones Jr., Bogdan Bogdanovi\u0107<\/a>, Joan Beringer, 2029 first-round pick (unprotected from Clippers via Indiana Pacers<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u201cLast year, Irving was an All-Star who averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.3 steals and shot 40.1 percent from three,\u201d Bleacher Report wrote. \u201cAdding him to a T-Wolves team with Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle<\/a>, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid and others would give Minnesota an answer to its point guard dilemma while Lopez helps fill the void left from Gobert\u2019s departure.\u201d<\/p>\n What the Trade Would Mean for Anthony Edwards and Minnesota<\/p>\n The Wolves have remained a perennial Western Conference contender in the last couple of years. Minnesota made the conference finals twice but lacked the needed edge to get over the hump.\u00a0<\/p>\n The franchise has rallied behind Edwards, who is averaging 26.9 points in the postseason in his career. A player like Irving would elevate Edwards\u2019 playoff stance even more.\u00a0<\/p>\n Irving is a playoff-proven superstar who recently took Dallas to the NBA Finals in 2024 in his first full season for the franchise. He also brings championship-winning pedigree and offensive creativity, something that the Timberwolves\u2019 backcourt currently lacks.<\/p>\n Irving didn\u2019t play at all this season as he continued rehabilitation over the ACL injury he suffered last year.<\/p>\n The Mavericks can move him for rebuilding pieces as the Flagg era takes shape.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAdel Ahmad<\/a> Adel is a writer with over five years of experience covering the NBA. His work has appeared on various media platforms, both national and local. More about Adel Ahmad<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Timberwolves\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The Timberwolves are officially done playing it safe. With Ja Morant off the table, Minnesota is now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3782],"tags":[7,307,152,3954,6,308],"class_list":{"0":"post-709840","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-timberwolves","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","11":"tag-minnesotatimberwolves","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-timberwolves"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116399185475642669","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Cooper](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2244079914-e1775463279868.jpg\")
<\/p>\n