The Dallas Mavericks made a blockbuster trade for Kyrie Irving in hopes it would put their championship hopes over the top. Instead, they plummeted in the standings and missed the playoffs altogether.
Former Mavericks guard Vince Carter kept a close eye on his former team, both before and after the trade. In an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Carter gave his honest assessment.
‘I didn’t like it,’ Carter said, ‘and it has nothing to do with Kyrie. I didn’t like how much they had to give up to get him.’
Carter said the trade cost the Mavericks their best defensive player (Dorian Finney-Smith) and forced star Luka Doncic to work even harder on the defensive end.
‘I do think (Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic) can work, the two of them together. But I feel the issue is the roster; that’s the problem,’ Carter said.
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An eight-time All-Star, Carter understands how tough it can be to fall short. In his 22 NBA seasons, he never won a championship.
Putting the right players together is not an easy task.
‘If you put a better roster around those guys then you can see if it’s a roster that is willing to do whatever, and buy in,’ he said. ‘If you start out, and you’re not very good, after a while it’s, ‘I’m going to get mine. I’m going to get my numbers.’ To hit (contract) incentives …
‘That’s the issue you fall into when you’re not winning.’
Carter says it’s up to coach Jason Kidd to figure out a way to maximize his two stars’ strengths – with Irving running the point and Doncic at the center of the offense.
‘If Kyrie is willing to allow Luka to do that to get him started, now Kyrie can be that with the second unit and be a more ball dominant guy and rotate it that way,’ Carter said.
‘Then, in the fourth quarter you just have to figure it out.”
