The dark cloud that hovers over the Dallas Mavericks season continues to pour rain, and now Kyrie Irving is its latest victim. Irving was having another high-caliber season, averaging 25 ppg and filling the role of team leader after the Mavs traded away Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Unfortunately, the 32-year-old superstar now has a new obstacle to overcome.
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Irving tore his ACL during last night’s Mavericks loss to the Sacramento Kings, with news breaking today that he will remain sidelined for the rest of the season.
This presents a tough task for the 2016 NBA Champion, as the recovery time for a torn ACL is 6-9 months. If that holds up, Irving would not be back for the start of the 2025-2026 season.
His absence has multiple repercussions. While it is obviously another nail added to what is Dallas’ current season, it also means the contract conversation he was supposed to have in the offseason will now be a lot different.
NBA insider Shams Charania, while talking to Pat McAfee, shed more light on this situation. The ESPN insider first took out the time to praise Irving for “reclaiming his spot” as one of the “upper echelon” players in the league. He went on to discuss the level at which Kyrie had been performing, especially his shooting percentages.
He noted that performance made Irving more than eligible for a big paycheck. However, Shams revealed some more unfortunate news for the nine-time All-Star, and that will be the hit his wallet takes.
“He was on track to get a max contract this offseason potentially,” Sham stated. “He has a player option for $44 million next season.”
It would be hard to imagine that the Mavericks would dish out a max contract for Irving now, especially since his injury timetable has yet to be fully determined. His salary this year is $40 million and he is supposed to pocket almost $43 million next season.
But considering Kyrie’s past couple of seasons and how he has proven himself capable of leading a big market team, his contract extension would have easily put him in the $50 million realm. That seems tough now and would depend on Mavericks’ faith.
Dallas, though, has a lot more to worry about than Kyrie’s max contract at the moment. In simple words, they are deep in the trenches and need a desperate out.
Do the Mavericks just shut down Anthony Davis now that they’ve lost Irving?
The Mavericks didn’t let Luka Doncic go for nothing. In the monumental trade they acquired Anthony Davis. But like a bad stroke of luck, AD sustained a non-contact injury in his first game as a Maverick, and has not played since. Now with Irving out, is it even worth for Davis to return?
Dallas currently holds the #10 spot with a record of 32-30. While a play-in spot is still on the table, a team that is led by Klay Thompson might not fare too well against the #1 ranked Thunder or the #2 ranked Nuggets.
But even making the play-in tournament is an upward climb, the Mavericks don’t have the legs for at the moment. Their two best players in Kyrie and AD are out for the season and Thompson is not the player he once was and, by all means, is incapable of leading the team to the postseason.
