Sergio De Larrea has been the story of the Mavericks’ Summer League, and the rookie guard already knows who he wants learning from once he gets to Dallas. After a passing clinic in Las Vegas, De Larrea made clear that Kyrie Irving is at the top of his list.
The 25th overall pick, acquired by Dallas in a draft-night trade, dished 26 assists across his last two outings. Each of those games set the mark for the most assists by a Maverick in a Summer League contest, per NBADraft.net, headlined by a 14-assist night against Oklahoma City that carried Dallas to a win. The Spaniard has one Summer League game left, Friday against the New York Knicks, before the long runway to the preseason begins.
Asked by Toni Canyameras of Mundo Deportivo what he’d want to ask Irving first, De Larrea skipped past anything technical and went straight to leadership. He said he wants to understand how Irving leads a team and carries himself, admiring the veteran “not just as a player, but as a person,” and hopes to learn how he manages it all in such a demanding environment.
A Passer First, a Scorer in Progress
The playmaking has been the surprise. Coming out of Spain, De Larrea was viewed as a shooting guard whose jumper would translate quickest, but he’s looked like a far more advanced distributor than expected, building on the pick-and-roll feel he showed overseas. His vision has drawn Luka Doncic comparisons, fitting for a player who grew up rooting for him. The lobs and no-look dishes echo what Doncic did in Dallas, even if the scoring hasn’t caught up yet.
That scoring is where Irving could matter most. De Larrea struggled to put the ball in the basket in Vegas, part of it adjusting to the deeper NBA three-point line and part of it needing to add strength and physicality. Learning from one of the best off-the-dribble scorers the league has ever seen gives him a direct path to closing that gap.
The fit runs deeper than skills. Irving has thrived next to other ball-dominant stars, reaching the Finals alongside Doncic and LeBron James and winning a title in 2016, so a young lead guard learning the position won’t throw him off. He’s also grown into a steady veteran voice after turbulent stretches earlier in his career, and he’ll have plenty to prove himself this season as he returns from an ACL injury. For De Larrea, there may not be a better teacher in the building.
