On February 6, 2023, Kyrie Irving was officially traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Dallas Mavericks. On February 6, 2024, Kyrie and the Mavs will battle the Nets in Brooklyn.
It's been a year filled with ups and downs for Dallas. After initially acquiring Irving in the trade, Mavs fans were certainly excited.
How could a roster that featured a star-studded duo with players like Irving and Luka Doncic not find success? Media members were also interested to see just how good the Mavericks could be, especially since the Mavs had made a deep postseason run the year before.
Dallas, however, struggled in the second-half of the 2022-23 campaign. They ultimately missed the playoffs and questions immediately arose about Irving's future with the Mavs. He ended up staying in Dallas, and was excited to play a full season with Doncic and the Mavericks.
Kyrie Irving ready to battle Nets
On Tuesday, Dallas will face the Nets in the second of a back-to-back, as they defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 118-102 on Monday night. Irving addressed his return to Brooklyn following Monday's game, per Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News.
“Obviously there's some history there,” Irving said. “There's a competitive edge that you have going into each game when you play against your former team. It's not like, uncommon. It's been happening for years in the league… But I was just saying that to say, let's just normalize the emotions that go into those games, playing against your former team instead of making it such a big deal of, ‘are you ready for it?'”
Irving then said he is feeling “excitement” to play the Nets for the first time since the trade.
Irving has performed well during the 2023-24 season, but injuries have limited him to only 28 games. He's averaging over 25 points per contest on 47.5 percent field goal and 41.5 percent three-point shooting. Irving is also recording 5.1 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game.
Dallas now holds a 27-23 record following their victory over the 76ers. It's been a fairly inconsistent season for them, but much of that can be blamed on injury uncertainty. This Mavs team has the potential to be dangerous when healthy.
How Nets have fared since trading Irving to Mavericks
Meanwhile, Brooklyn is just 20-29. They featured championship potential in 2022-23, but ultimately traded Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant away prior to the deadline last year. The Nets still reached the postseason but were quickly eliminated.
Following a decent start to the 2023-24 campaign, the Nets now hold a 20-29 record. Brooklyn has struggled in recent action and they have decisions to make in reference to their core players before the trade deadline.
Brooklyn's attempt at building a big three did not go according to plan. The Nets were hopeful that Irving, Durant, and James Harden would lead the team to a championship. Harden ended up seeking a change-of-scenery, so Brooklyn traded him to the 76ers in the Ben Simmons deal.
Simmons joining Durant and Irving also didn't lead to much success, but it should be noted that injuries impacted the roster. Nevertheless, Simmons is the only player remaining on Brooklyn's roster from their big three experiment.
Harden is now revitalizing his career in Los Angeles with the Clippers, while Durant is recording MVP-like numbers with the Phoenix Suns. And when healthy, Kyrie Irving has been terrific for the Mavericks.
Tuesday's Mavs-Nets game projects to be an exciting affair as Kyrie prepares to battle his former team.
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