A new report suggests that Masai Ujiri will make the first big move as the Dallas Mavericks' new president of basketball operations, trading away, arguably, their best player before next season's NBA trade deadline.
After several weeks of rumors and speculation, Mavericks governor and majority owner Patrick Dumont made a major breakthrough in his search for a new team president when he hired Ujiri last week. And the former Toronto Raptors president brings an impressive resume to Dallas.
During his tenure at North, Ujiri made seven consecutive playoff appearances. His first Eastern Conference Finals appearance (2016). First NBA Finals appearance (2019), and the franchise's first championship in 2019. However, it is difficult to stay at the top for long, and he was forced out of his role last year after a couple of disappointing seasons.
Ujiri has shown a talent for drafting and development and making bold trades to take his teams a step forward. Dallas fans will surely be wondering what moves he can make to lift the Mavericks out of the bottom of the standings and back into playoff contention.
Although it may not come this summer, a new report suggests a specific big-time trade will take place during the season.
Are the Dallas Mavericks planning on trading Kyrie Irving before next season's trade deadline?
On Wednesday, ESPN's Jeremy Wu reported how Ujiri's priority will be building a better roster around young star Cooper Flagg. However, that endgame won't include top star Kyrie Irving.
"What Dallas likely won't want to do is miss two deadlines, meaning it becomes prudent to find trade value for a healthy Irving if he returns to top form. How Ujiri evaluates the rest of the roster and how active he decides to be in upgrading the team in his first offseason should be telling."
-Jeremy Wu
The 34-year-old nine-time All-Star missed the entire 2025-26 season after suffering an ACL injury in March 2025. Hopefully the extra recovery time will allow him to make an immediate impact next season. However, he is on a very different timeline than what the organization thinks about the 19-year-old Flagg and his journey to lead the Mavericks back to relevance.
That's why Ujiri would surely find a new home for the future Hall of Famer and earn more draft assets to build a winning team around Flagg.
