On Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks’ 2024-25 season effectively came to an end when it was reported by Shams Charania of ESPN that Kyrie Irving would be sidelined with a torn ACL. Irving sustained the injury during the Mavericks’ loss to the Sacramento Kings on Monday evening, a game in which Jaden Hardy also left due to injury.
With Irving now out for the year and Luka Doncic inexplicably in Los Angeles, it would appear that the Mavericks’ chances of any real contention this year are now off the table, particularly due to the fact that Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, and Dereck Lively are also out of the lineup currently due to injury.
Davis was expected to return to the lineup at some point this season, but now, Charania is noting that the Mavericks aren’t even sure that that will happen anymore.
“I think [Anthony Davis], his representatives are gonna huddle up,” said Charania, per The Pat McAfee Show. I think they’re gonna have some very hard conversations. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that one game was the last time we’ve seen AD this season.”
Should the Mavericks start tanking?
At the end of the 2022-23 season, Mark Cuban and the Mavericks drew heavy criticism for seemingly intentionally losing games to secure a better draft pick despite Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving both being healthy.
Now, however, the Mavericks have traded Doncic away, and Irving and Davis are both out due to injury, so fans would likely be a lot more understanding if the team was in no rush to hurry back its injured players.
In the aftermath of the Doncic trade, there was still some optimism that a team led by Davis and Irving, with a solid supporting cast, could make some noise in the Western Conference, especially considering that Dallas has had the number of the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder over the past two years.
However, the current injury situation would likely be too much for any team to overcome, making it a distinct possibility that the Mavericks throw in the towel for the rest of this haunted campaign.
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