Less than five months have passed since the league-altering Luka Dončić trade that left Mavericks fans protesting their team’s front office, but the mood in Dallas has drastically changed since the end of the season.
On Tuesday, the Mavericks agreed to a three-year, $119 million extension with Kyrie Irving, less than 24 hours before the team is expected to select Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft. While it’s unclear when exactly Irving will return from the ACL tear he sustained in March, Dallas can expect the core of Irving, Flagg, and Anthony Davis to carry their team for the next few years.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Irving and the Mavericks organization showed “commitment” to one another, and the 33-year-old believes their current core can “compete for a championship.”
To sign his deal, Irving declined his $43 million player option, allowing the Mavericks to fall under the second apron. This gives Dallas access to its taxpayer mid-level exception—worth about $5.7 million—to sign another player.
The Mavericks are looking to use that flexibility to sign another point guard to start in front of Irving while he recovers—and unrestricted free agents D’Angelo Russell and Malcolm Brogdon are their targets, according to Charania.
The Mavericks also signed center Daniel Gafford to a reported three-year, $54 million contract on Monday, which kicks in during the 2026–27 season. The 26-year-old is not only a valuable big man to support Davis and Dereck Lively II, but his contract serves as a flexible asset in any future trade.
The positive steps—and some luck in landing the No. 1 pick—have rebuilt some cache between the organization and its fan base. ESPN reported Tuesday that the team has renewed about “75–80%” of its season tickets and sold about $8 million worth of season tickets in the three days following the draft lottery on May 12.
“We had a lot of work to do in earning back the confidence and fandom of a not insignificant segment of our fan base,” a team source told ESPN.
Dallas will still have a lot to prove on the court to emulate the team that made the 2024 NBA Finals with Dončić at the helm, but the sting of February’s trade is quickly starting to dissipate.
