The Dallas Mavericks had championship hopes after trading franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic in a defense-focused move to acquire Anthony Davis. But injuries quickly unraveled those plans, most notably Kyrie Irving’s ACL tear suffered in March of last year.
After catching lottery luck and securing the No. 1 pick, which they used to draft generational prospect Cooper Flagg, the Mavericks now face a crossroads. They must decide whether to add win-now pieces to chase a playoff run while waiting for Irving’s return or fully embrace a reset, lean into the lottery again, and build toward next season.
Fans React as Insider Drops Possible Kyrie Irving Return Timeline
On Thursday, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reiterated Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont’s intention to first evaluate whether the core trio of Flagg, Davis and Irving can succeed together before committing to any major trade, particularly with the franchise still lacking a permanent general manager.
However, MacMahon noted that Irving may not return before the Feb. 5 trade deadline, further complicating matters as leaguewide interest in trading for Davis continues to grow.
“Now, the problem with that, based on what I’m hearing — Kyrie is not coming back before the trade deadline,” MacMahon said on “Howdy Partners.” “Even if he did, it would be a tiny sample size. So you’re not going to have that luxury of that evaluation period before one major decision needs to be made, and whether that’s trade him or don’t trade him.”
As a result, some fans believe trades are inevitable, with Davis viewed as the most likely piece to move.
“So that just means AD is gonna get traded,” one fan said.
“Move AD and hope to get another high pick in the draft,” another fan said.
“Rebuild Dallas and trade Ad,” another commented.
At the same time, other fans are already shifting their focus to next season, when Irving could be fully healthy.
“Coming back for playoffs if they made it this season was the very most he was looking at anyway. Unsurprising. Good idea to get back to as close to healthy as he can before playing again,” one said.
“He should get healthy and come back next season,” another commented.
“Sit him out and rest. Next season will be lit. Mavs should keep AD. Cooper going to continue to gain experience and confidence this year,” another said.
The Mavericks enter Thursday’s matchup against the Utah Jazz with a 14-23 record, sitting 11th in the Western Conference and hovering near the play-in picture, a position they occupied last year before eventually landing the No. 1 pick in the lottery.
However, even if Dallas were to make a late playoff push, they would likely face a top Western Conference seed such as the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets or Los Angeles Lakers, a reality that could discourage the franchise from rushing Irving back this season.
