Rockets Reportedly Interested in Mavericks' Kyrie Irving

The Houston Rockets are facing a big offseason. Their roster needs work, even if they are expecting to get Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams back next year. 

Adams will be 33 and coming off his fourth consecutive injury-shortened season. The Rockets can't expect him to return as the same player.

VanVleet will be 32 years old and coming off an ACL tear. Granted, it's not like he's at risk of losing his athleticism, because he is not a high-flyer. But he and Reed Sheppard can't be relied upon to be Houston's only outside shooters at a high volume.

The Rockets only averaged 31.5 outside shots per contest, putting them at an essential mathematical disadvantage on a nightly basis. 

Even the iteration of the Rockets prior to the Kevin Durant trade struggled to let off a viable number of threes. That team that featured Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, who combined for 14.4 attempts alone in 2024-25, only let off 35.8 outside shots, which ranked 20th.

And that was with VanVleet's 7.7 outside attempts. Moves will have to be made.

But not just moves. The Rockets can't make roster moves just for the sake of doing something different. They have to make the right moves. 

Which makes the latest reporting on the Kyrie Irving front interesting. According to Brandon Robinson, also known as Scoop B, the Rockets have interest in Irving.

"Furthermore, the Houston Rockets are also actively monitoring Irving’s availability, ready to spark a bidding war."

ESPN's Shams Charania also reported that multiple contending teams are interested in Irving and are keeping tabs on the Dallas Mavericks, following the ouster of Jason Kidd as head coach which was preceded by the hire of Masai Ujiri as the Mavericks' vice president and decision maker. 

Irving will be 35 before the conclusion of the 2026-27 season and is coming off a torn ACL that forced him to miss the entirety of the 2025-26 season, which was essentially a tanking year for Dallas. 

From a contractual standpoint, Irving has one guaranteed year left in 2026-27, at $39.5 million, followed by a player option in 2027-28 at $42 million. He will certainly be washing his hands of the contract for more long-term security.

Irving last played in 2024-25, averaging 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 47.3 percent from the field, 40.1 percent from the outside (on 7.2 attempts) and 91.6 percent from the foul line -- numbers good enough to land Irving yet another All-Star selection.