After the latest PR debacle to come out of Dallas in the wake of the Luka Dončić trade (this time Nico Harrison continuing to trip over himself at every public turn to justify the deal), the Mavericks are perhaps trying to counter the negative vibes engulfing their franchise by throwing a little bit of good news out into the ether.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Wednesday night that Dallas point guard Kyrie Irving, who tore his ACL on March 3 and has since has successful surgery, could return by the middle of next season. Charania, ahead of the Mavericks’ Play-In Tournament game against the Kings, said there’s “optimism” that Irving could be back on the floor by January.
“The expectation is that [Irving] will play a good chunk of next season,” Charania said. “There’s optimism that he will be back by January. Before that, he’s got a $44 million player option. That’s the next situation that Nico Harrison [and] the Mavericks will have to deal with. The goal for the Mavericks has been to rip up [Irving’s] player option and give him a three-year deal to align him with Nico Harrison’s three [remaining] years [on his contract] and Anthony Davis’ three years.”
If Irving does return by January of next season, or any time around that, he will turn 34 shortly thereafter. He has played at an All-NBA level since coming to Dallas, but there is no guarantee if he’ll be able to reach those levels again following an injury like this at this stage of his career.
Dallas doesn’t really have a choice about re-signing Irving on another multi-year contract. They have gone recklessly all in on these next few years and seem to truly believe they are in a better position to win a championship with Davis, who is also hurt quite often and will turn 33 a few weeks before Irving hits 34, next to Kyrie they were with Luka.
This is such a desperate situation in Dallas, whether or not Harrison will ever admit it, if only to himself. But this, sadly, is where they’re at, at their own doing, and it seems pretty convenient that the Mavericks are putting this Irving news out there one day after Harrison told a room full of hand-picked reporters, who weren’t allowed to record anything, that he has “no regrets” about the dumbest sports trade since the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth.
Otherwise, why is this Irving speculation coming out now? Because that’s what it is. Speculation. It is way too early to have any realistic idea how Irving’s rehab is going to go over the next eight months to be putting a date on a potential return. Save that for the summer or the start of next season. It just doesn’t need to be news right now. Unless you want it to be news. Which the Mavericks clearly do, and it’s hard to blame them. Sure, they did it to themselves and have only sounded more arrogant, bordering on incompetent, in their explanations since, but it still can’t be easy hearing how dumb everyone thinks you are every day.
Unfortunately, this Irving leak isn’t going to stop the Dončić trade discussion. Just wait until Luka goes wild in a playoff game for the Lakers and all the Mavericks have to say is, hey, Kyrie’s gonna be back late next season! Awesome.