At the beginning of the summer, the Dallas Mavericks pulled off one of the biggest steals of the offseason when they signed Kyrie Irving to a three-year, $119 million deal. Although Irving was always expected to stay in Dallas, this was an extremely team-friendly deal, and his selflessness ultimately helped the Mavericks gain access to the taxpayer mid-level exception, which they used to sign D'Angelo Russell.
If Irving would've signed a more lucrative extension with the Mavs, they likely wouldn't have been able to use the taxpayer mid-level exception, and Dallas being able to add Russell because Irving took a pay cut has to be the heist of the summer.