Getty Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks.
With three regular-season-games remaining, the Dallas Mavericks need a miracle to earn a spot in the postseason. They’ll likely need to sweep their final stretch, as well as having either the 10th place Oklahoma City Thunder to lose two-of-three, or the 9th place Minnesota Timberwolves to go winless. On top of that, they can hope for a “O-for” stretch from the Thunder or Los Angeles Lakers, while winning 2-of-3.
An even bigger question mark than Dallas’ postseason hopes is what their roster will look like on opening night next season. Star guard Kyrie Irving‘s contract expires after this year, and they’ll have to make a decision on bringing him back.
According to Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes, the Mavs have already made up their mind on the Irving.
“Despite the Dallas Mavericks’ struggles since acquiring Kyrie Irving, the plan is still to re-sign the star guard, league sources told Bleacher Report,” Haynes wrote in an April 3 article. “Irving is eligible for an extension, but he will instead allow his future to be decided in free agency this summer, sources said. Dallas is 9-16 since making the blockbuster trade, but the shortcomings do not fall on Irving’s shoulders.”
Mavs Plan on Adding ‘Versatile Wing Defenders’
Haynes also touched on what potential moves the front office plans to make in order improve the roster around Irving and Luka Doncic.
Going into the offseason, the Mavericks intend to surround Luka Dončić and—optimistically—Irving with versatile wing defenders and rim protectors to improve a defense that has been subpar,” he continued. “The team has fallen out of the play-in field and has very little chance to climb back in with three games remaining on its schedule. The Mavs are a game back of the Oklahoma City Thunder for the final play-in spot, and Oklahoma City owns the tie-breaker.”
Kyrie Irving Gets Real on Mavs Future
Irving doesn’t seem like he’s in a rush to get out of town (Where have you heard that before?). He recently discussed his understanding of Dallas’ growing process, saying that he’s “at peace” with their future plans.
“I think the realistic view is that when I came here, this was going to be a growing process,” Irving said via Sports Illustrated’s Grant Afseth, after the March 28 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. “This was for the long term, and this was for something that’s bigger than ourselves, and we can’t just be a championship team overnight, especially me coming here. So I think I’ve wrapped my head around that aspect of it. I’m at peace with it. It doesn’t mean that I’m giving up on this season or any of my teammates are, but we know where we realistically are, and our destiny is in some other team’s hands losing games. So we just got to control what we can control and focus on the next few possessions that we have in these next games against some really good teams that want to position themselves for the playoffs. We’re fighting for a spot, so I look forward to the challenge. But again, in the last six minutes of the game, I felt like we could have been better clear, including myself.”
Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving was asked if there’s enough time to build the necessary chemistry in the final few games, given the scramble the standings has caused.
“It’s been a scramble since I’ve been here. So, trying to fill in roles that kind of fill in from other people. And I…