How The Kyrie Irving Trade Affects NBA Championship, MVP Odds

The first blockbuster trade of the NBA’s 2023 trade deadline was completed on February 6th with disgruntled Brooklyn Nets All-Star guard Kyrie Irving being shipped off to the Dallas Mavericks with forward Markieff Morris in exchange for guard Spencer Dinwiddie, forward Dorian Finney-Smith, one unprotected first round pick, and two second round picks.

Needless to say, sports betting sites have had to update their NBA Championship and NBA MVP odds accordingly.

NBA Championship Odds

Dallas Mavericks NBA Championship Odds

Before the Irving trade the Mavericks were a shoo-in for the playoffs, but nothing more. They were 11th on the NBA Championship odds table at +2930 the week before the trade, but with the addition of Irving they’ve now leap-frogged up to eighth on the list with +1385 odds. To put that in perspective, NBA betting sites were giving Dallas a 3.3 percent chance at the title before the trade, but now they’ve doubled their chances up to 6.7 percent.

The significance of the Kyrie Irving trade can not be understated as the veteran 8-time All-Star and 3-time All-NBA selection not only brings one of the most polished offensive skill sets in the NBA today to the table, he also brings championship pedigree, winning an NBA Championship in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Irving is arguably the greatest ball handler the league has ever seen and his mid-range game is top five in the NBA.

Irving requested the trade out of Brooklyn a few days before it happened, so some may continue squabbling about his off the court issues, but there’s no denying his quality as a player. It will be interesting to see how he fills in next to ball-dominant Luka Doncic, because while Irving also likes to have the ball in his hands, he’s had great success in his career as an off-ball scorer as well.

Brooklyn Nets NBA Championship Odds

The Brooklyn Nets, on the other hand, are free-falling. Before the deal the Nets were considered the third most likely team to win this season’s NBA Championship with +715 odds the week before the trade. Now that Irving is gone, they’re chances at championship glory in 2023 have plummeted to +2200, which pushes them out of the top 10 to 11th in the table.

After dealing James Harden last season, the Nets are now left with just Kevin Durant from the Big Three they put together during the 2020-2021 season. While it hasn’t been confirmed yet, the likelihood of Durant now exiting Brooklyn is also very high. Just two seasons after Brooklyn thought they had a title contender, it seems like they’re heading back into a rebuilding faze.

The Nets didn’t come away with nothing from this trade, but the package was a lot less than many were expecting them to get in a deal sending Irving the other way. Dinwiddie, who had previously played in Brooklyn from 2016-2021, was probably Dallas’ second-best player before he was moved, and he’s a solid offensive player that can score well at all three levels. Finney-Smith is more of a depth guy. They did pick up a first round draft choice, but considering Dallas is likely to be a contender, that pick is not likely to be a very high one.

NBA MVP Odds

The trade didn’t just affect NBA Championship odds, it also had a big impact on the NBA MVP odds table as well. As recently as January 9th, Doncic was the odds-on favorite to take home the 2023 MVP award, but his stock started falling after an injury in January. His odds have nosedived again after his Mavericks acquired Irving to assist him in the back court.

Two weeks before the trade, Doncic was sitting in second in the NBA MVP odds table at +385, behind only Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, the two-time reigning MVP. After the Mavs picked up Irving, Doncic’s odds have dropped significantly to +720. On January 23rd, Doncic was being given a 20.6 percent chance at taking home the MVP trophy, but with another All-Star in the back court in Irving, Doncic’s chances have dropped to 12.2 percent and he now sits fourth in the table behind Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo as well.