Despite sustaining a major injury, the Dallas Mavericks still want Kyrie Irving to stay around for the long run.
That’s why they signed him to a three-year contract extension worth a whopping $119 million.
However, Stephen A. Smith believes Irving should’ve gotten much more.
Talking on ESPN’s First Take, the controversial pundit argued that the Mavs had low-balled the future Hall of Famer.
“I think Kyrie Irving got low-balled.”
—@stephenasmith on Kyrie Irving’s new deal with the Mavs pic.twitter.com/sMY5kvuihe
— First Take (@FirstTake) June 25, 2025
He claimed that, with other players getting closer to $50 million, Irving should’ve gotten more.
Perhaps he’s right, but we have to look at the whole picture.
Irving sustained a major injury late last season, so he might miss most of — if not all of — next season.
That’s essentially one wasted year of his contract.
Irving will be 34 by the time he takes the court again, and coming off a major injury, he might not be the same player.
He’s had durability issues for most of his career, and even when he’s been healthy, he’s been a bit of a wild card.
Irving looks happy in Dallas, but then again, he also did in Cleveland, Boston, and Brooklyn.
The Mavs just landed the future of the organization by taking Duke star Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 selection, and they have to build around him.
Hampering their finances to overpay for an aging point guard coming off a major injury might not be the wisest call.
And given Irving’s reputation around the league, it’s hard to believe anybody else would’ve given him more money or more years, as great a player as he is.
NEXT: Anthony Davis Reacts To Mavericks Drafting Cooper Flagg
