Kyrie Irving: Everything you need to know

The Mavericks announced Wednesday that Irving (knee) won't play this season while he continues to recover from the ACL reconstruction surgery he underwent March 26. Dallas sits at 19-35 on the season coming out of the All-Star break and is pivoting toward a rebuild, so the news that Irving won't play in 2025-26 comes as little surprise, especially after head coach Jason Kidd had been vague on the veteran guard's status in recent weeks. According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com, the Mavericks still have some optimism that Irving will be able to practice at some point before the end of the season, which will put him on track to be back to 100 percent well in advance of training camp next fall, when he would be 18 months removed from surgery. Irving will be entering the final year of his contract next season and holds a $42.42 million player option for 2027-28.

Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said Jan. 22 that Irving (knee) "probably" won't be ready to make his season debut until after the All-Star break, Dwain Price of the team's official site reports. Irving has yet to resume practicing while he continues to work his way through the rehab process for a torn ACL in his left knee, which he had surgically repaired March 26. While he said that Irving had "no timeline" for a return, Kidd didn't provide many details regarding where the veteran point guard stands in his recovery beyond relaying that he's "in good spirits" and "feels great." Kidd also added that the 19-30 Mavericks' position in the standings won't dictate Irving's timeline, instead noting that Irving will be back in action once he's physically and mentally ready. If Irving is able to make a late-season return, he'll likely be subject to heavy restrictions with his minutes, and his presence would presumably result in star rookie Cooper Flagg seeing more time off the ball.

Irving (knee) remains out indefinitely and doesn't have a return timetable, Mavericks reporter Grant Afseth said during an appearance on HoopsHype's podcast 'Around the Beat' on Friday. Irving tore the ACL in his left knee at the beginning of March, ending his 2024-25 campaign, but after undergoing surgery, the Mavericks said they were optimistic their superstar guard would return to action before 2026, per Shams Charania of ESPN. Before training camp this season, there was another positive update about Irving's recovery, with Ashish Mathur of the Dallas Hoops Journal reporting that the veteran was ahead of schedule in his recovery. However, a few days later, head coach Jason Kidd pumped the brakes, saying Irving is doing "quite well" but added that declaring he was "ahead of schedule is not fair," per Christian Clark of The Athletic. It's clear that Irving and the Mavericks don't want to pick a target date until they are absolutely certain he's ready for game action, but Afseth notes that the vibe around the organization is that Irving could return before the mid-February All-Star break. "I've personally liked, from my understanding of the situation, have long held the thought that there's optimism of a pre-All-Star break return. But that's not ever been like super like that's happening, there hasn't been a set guarantee like anything of that nature," Afseth concluded. NBA insider Marc J. Spears also relayed a promising update on Irving in mid-November, "Kyrie's looking good. He's ahead of schedule," Spears said. "He's working out with the purpose of playing this season, which I'm sure Mavs fans are glad to hear. I think, optimistic-wise, around late-January, All-Star break. Someone close to him told me that if it was the playoffs, he could play right now. That's how ahead of schedule he is." Despite all the optimism, fantasy managers are going to be left in the dark for at least a few more weeks before we learn anything definitive. Irving has been spotted doing light, individual drills at recent practices and is spending a lot of time mentoring Cooper Flagg.