After weeks and months of mediocrity, the Dallas Mavericks find themselves on the brink of elimination down the stretch of the regular season. In fact, if the Mavs lose Friday night against the Bulls, it officially eliminates them from play-in contention.
So when the Mavericks announced that both Luka and Kyrie (along with several other key role-players) would inexplicably miss Friday’s matchup against the Bulls, it raised a lot of eyebrows around the NBA community.
If the Mavericks lose tonight, they’re eliminated from playoff contention.
They just announced Kyrie Irving, Josh Green, Tim Hardaway Jr., Maxi Kleber, and Christian Wood will all miss tonight’s game.
Wow, wow, wow. pic.twitter.com/bNxyZvVEpa
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) April 7, 2023
This is particularly stunning given Luka’s promise to play it through until the end, but it seems the Mavericks understand that even if they do manage to sneak into the play-in, they have no hope of stopping teams like the Suns, Warriors, Nuggets, or Kings.
On Twitter, one fan replied to the news by concluding they must be waving the white flag.
So they literally just giving up. 😬
— D’Courtland Christian (DC) (@DCrealspill) April 7, 2023
A different fan went so far as to call the Mavs’ season a ‘disappointing collapse.’
They’re mailing it in. What a dissapointing collapse
— Kambui Bomani (@BomaniKambui) April 7, 2023
Another user called the Kyrie trade the worst mid-season acquisition in NBA history.
The trade for Kyrie has to be the worst mid-season acquisition in NBA history.
— Shaun Holt (@AuthorShaunHolt) April 7, 2023
Team owner Mark Cuban was also mentioned in the comments as a person to blame for this historic meltdown.
Mark Cuban not wanting to give the pick to the Knicks just for luka to request a trade to the Knicks to play with Brunson, it’s coming full circle
— CMGFios (@9Fios) April 7, 2023
Of course, Kyrie Irving also got called out for once again bringing chaos to his team.
kyrie quit on his team again
— DragonSmoke1pc (@JustinAgyemang) April 7, 2023
Clearly, the Mavericks have conceded their championship aspirations and have seemingly already moved on to plan for the summer. With Irving scheduled to become a free agent, the future of this Mavericks team hangs in the balance.
Will Kyrie Stay With The Mavs?
Whatever flaws Irving brings, keeping him is the only way to ensure the team gets better this summer. Without him, it’s going to be close to impossible to build a successful team capable of going multiple rounds deep in the playoffs.
The good news for the Mavericks is that Kyrie still seems open to a long-term partnership.
“I think their realistic view is that when I came here, that this was going to be a growing process. This was for the long term, and this is for something that’s bigger than ourselves, and we can’t just be a championship team overnight, especially me coming here…”
Only time will tell us how this plays out for Kyrie and the Mavs, but it’s probably most beneficial for both sides to agree on a deal to work together in the future.
But it’s hard to deny the failure this season has been, and you can’t blame anyone for having doubts about the future of the Mavericks.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
