Amid rampant speculation about his playing future, Dallas Mavericks impending free agent Kyrie Irving made an eye-opening move by surrendering his No. 2 jersey to incoming rookie Dereck Lively II.

As well as telling the Mavs that he would like to wear No. 11 if he should return (h/t ESPN reporter Tim MacMahon).

Irving began his NBA career wearing the No. 2 jersey, donning it for six seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers before making the switch to No. 11 when he decided to leave the Cavs for the Boston Celtics. Irving chose the No. 11 jersey again upon signing with the Brooklyn Nets in 2019.

Then, after five-plus seasons wearing the No. 11 jersey for the Celtics and the Nets, Irving began his Mavs tenure wearing No. 2 because Tim Hardaway Jr. was already wearing that jersey number.

Hardaway, for that matter, is switching to the No. 10 jersey that his father wore for all but two seasons of his Hall of Fame career. The younger Hardaway last wore No. 10 in 2017 during a tw0-season stint with the Atlanta Hawks.

There's obviously no guarantee that Irving will return to the Mavericks as a free agent this offseason just because he requested his former jersey number back in the event that he does choose to re-sign. Nonetheless, between their commitment to him throughout the offseason and the rumors linking him to the Los Angeles Lakers cooling down considerably, the writing may already be on the wall.

Irving averaged 27.1 points, 5.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game in the 2022-23 season, shooting 49.4 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from 3-point range.