Merrill Dubrow: My name is Merrill Dubrow, CEO of M/A/R/C research and a 35 plus year veteran of the insights community and the host of our podcast, On the M/A/R/C. Welcome to another Merrill-ISM segment. Today's segment is Sign or Not to Sign, that is the question. I must admit before I explain what that title means, I must say I'm a little down, perhaps depressed. Definitely not happy with what happened to my Dallas Mavericks last month. Yes. My Dallas Mavericks. Yes. I'm from Boston. Yes. I love the Boston Celtics. But being an MFFL, which is a MAVs fan for life, means something to me. And, in fact, something very special. A shout out to Mark Cuban, who I've never met, sent Cynt Marshall who is a doll and I've met a bunch of times, and Ronnie Fauss for building an amazing, nice community and fan base. Back to the title of today's podcast, Sign or Not to Sign Kyrie Irving. Yes. Most people say Kyrie is an amazing talent, but off the court is a different thing and not worth the trouble. I get it. I understand what everybody's saying. And, frankly, I don't deny it 100 percent at all. But on the court, this guy is special. On the court, what he does with the ball is amazing. And, frankly, if the Mavs sign him, he'll be an MVP candidate in 2023 and 2024. Yes. I said it. If the Mavericks resign him, they will have another, a second MVP candidate in Kyrie Irving to Luca, I promise you that. For the simple reason, he will be a 40, 50, 90 guy. Something that has only happened, maybe, 20 times in the history of the NBA. So what that means is, he will shoot 40 percent from threes, 50 percent field goal percentage, and 90 percent from the line. And he'll become only the fourth player to do it twice, which is unbelievable. He'll join Larry Bird, Kevin Durant, and Steve Nash, who have all done it multiple times. To me- And no. I don't pretend to be a GM. Nico Harrison has that job for the Mavs, not me. But, to me, you do sign him for four years. He will be special with Luca. This team was and is not built for Luca, Kyrie in '22, '23. However, they can do that moving forward. They need to draft the big man who can rebound and defend. They need to continue to space the floor with shooters, which they can. I promise you, Green and Hardy and Hardaway are special shooters. And two of the three are young and will get better. Yes. They have some pieces and bad contracts that just don't fit, but most teams do. I say sign Kyrie to four years. Let him make Dallas his home. Draft the big man. Sign a free agent or two that fits in with Kyrie and Luca. Kyrie and Luca are pros. They will figure it out over the summer and in training camp. Commit yourself to playing team defense. And you will now have an offseason to work on that. And fix the foul shooting, 74 percent is just not good enough to win in many close games. I think they can and will do that. I say sign Kyrie. It is the best chance you have to get where you want to go. What do you think? What do you say? My name is Merrill Dubrow. Thanks for listening to today's podcast, Sign or Not to Sign, that's the question. Stay well. Stay safe. And please, please, stay in touch.