Chris Jones-Imagn Images
How has Kyrie shaped up in Dallas?
Believe it or not,
Kyrie Irving has been one of the
Dallas Mavericks‘ longest tenured players. He is third on the list after Dwight Powell and Jaden Hardy. There are a lot of things he’s been a part of as a Maverick and a lot of experiences he’s had as a result of it. He’s certainly still here, with a new contract and hopes to come back ready to compete, even though a lot of the roster he came on board with is no longer here.
Kyrie has done a lot for this organization, and it may seem a little difficult to take a step back and actually see
what he’s done for this team. He was the first superstar to sign with Dallas in a very long time, helped take the Mavs to the
NBA Finals, and taught the front office it’s
okay to take a swing on a player as talented as Irving. So, let’s see how
exactly he’s impacted this team.
“Before” Kyrie Irving
The 2022-2023 pre-Kyrie
Dallas Mavericks were alright, floating around .500 (28-26). They were always a team that could step on the gas pedal and upset anyone on any given day; however, it was really just Dončić, a few “three-and-D” guys, and two playmakers in Dinwiddie and a then-rookie
Jaden Hardy. It was a good team, yet one that was never going to take the next step to title contention status. We’ve seen it before: a helio-centric offense run by Luka the year prior, with everyone hitting their stride at the right time. They proceeded to get gentlemen-swept by the
Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, who would go on to win a championship.
The Mavericks needed someone other than Luka Dončić to take the load off him and be a 1B option every night. Someone who could be a secondary ball-handler and generate shots for himself and his team. Someone who could make this team take the next step.
Enter Kyrie Irving.
The second that trade went through, a lot of people had a lot of thoughts racing. Did the Mavs give up too much? Should they have run this Doncic-led offense one more time? What if Kyrie misses half of this season and leaves as soon as it’s over? What if Kyrie’s off-court antics catch up to him here, affecting himself and everyone else in the locker room? What if we gave up too much defense and won’t be able to compete even though everything else goes right?
Some other thoughts may have been: What if Kyrie is exactly what we needed? What if the package we gave up for Kyrie (Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2027 second-round pick, a 2029 first-round pick, and a 2029 second-round pick) was worth it? What if he develops a better relationship with the Mavericks than with any other team? What if he’s on the floor, averaging 30 a night, and is the perfect complement to the Dallas Mavericks, helping them do what they hadn’t done in over a decade?
High risk, high reward was the best way to describe putting Kyrie Irving on this roster.
“While” Kyrie Irving
The rest of the 2022-2023 season wasn’t ideal; far from it in fact. The Mavs had a 10-18 record following the trade for Irving, and had an
8-12 record with him in the lineup. Luka and Kyrie also went
5-11 together, and the Mavericks tanked the final two games. There was much speculation regarding the fit of these two players specifically, and how often Irving was in and out of the lineup. However, he signed with Dallas over the summer to a
3 year, $126 million dollar contract. He was ready for another year, another chance to win a chip with this team.
Kyrie started the new season with a different roster: no Reggie Bullock, but he now had rookie
Dereck Lively II, Richaun Holmes,
Grant Williams, and
Danté Exum. Fast forward to the trade deadline, where Dallas was 29-23 and looking good, but wanted to take it a step further.
They traded Grant Williams, Seth Curry (who the Mavs also signed), and a first round pick for PJ Washington;
they traded Richaun Holmes and a first round pick for Daniel Gafford. With Kyrie in the lineup, the Mavs were in a win-now timeline, and even though a lot of picks were dealt away in the grand scheme of a year, the front office believed that this team could be one destined for success. Success in the near future.
Following that trade deadline Dallas went 21-9, including an end-of-regular-season stretch of 12-1. Through all this Kyrie had played 58 games (decently close to most people’s hopes of him playing at least 65 games), averaged 47.3/41.1/90.5 splits, hit 25 points per game, and most of all, he became a key part of the Dallas culture. There were no obscure “personal reasons” as to why he wasn’t on the court. There weren’t (many) injury concerns on the season. He was there when he could be, and played exceptionally. And we loved it.
Then came playoff time, and Kyrie continued to play basketball. He averaged 26.5 points per game in the first series against the
Los Angeles Clippers, and came up big in Game 6 to close it out: 30 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and this:
He took a step back as he and the Mavs went against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He didn’t do as much, but he didn’t need to, as PJ Washington dropped 20-plus points in three games and everyone else pitched in and did their job to take the series home in six.
He put on an offensive clinic against the
Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals, averaging 27 points and 4.6 assists as he and the Dallas Mavericks put down the Wolves in five.
This magical run, starting from the trade deadline in early February, ended in the NBA Finals as the
Boston Celtics shut down the Mavericks in five. Kyrie put up 19.8 points and 5 assists per game; He had some good showings, but overall couldn’t keep up with the Celtics as he had more bad games than good ones.
Even though the teams didn’t win a chip, Kyrie did exactly what everyone expected and even went above and beyond in bringing this team to its first NBA Finals appearance since 2011. After that 22-23 season and the first half of the 23-24 season, no one could have imagined how far the Mavs would go, in no small part thanks to Kyrie.
Kyrie Irving started the 2024-2025 NBA season with arguably (or inarguably) a better roster with
Klay Thompson for Josh Green and picks,
Naji Marshall, and
Quentin Grimes for Hardaway Jr. and some picks.
Kyrie averaged 24.7-4.8-4.6 for the season. He played well, helping the team to a 32-29 record. He would continue to excel even as his running mate
Luka Doncic got traded to the
Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis and Max Christie. He averaged almost 28 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists the month after the trade.
Unfortunately, his injury luck had run out. He suffered a
torn ACL in a game against the Sacramento Kings on March 3rd that the Dallas Mavericks would eventually lose, dropping them to 32-30. Kyrie would miss the last 20 games of the regular season as well as the 2 play-in games, before the Dallas season finally ended after losing to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Kyrie’s Future
It is important to state that no one could have predicted exactly what Kyrie Irving brought to the Mavericks. No one expected the Mavericks to accomplish what they did just a season after missing the playoffs, and Kyrie was a catalyst. He ended the narrative of being a toxic presence and seemingly built a tight bond with everyone on the team. He signed with the Mavs again this offseason for 3 years, $119 million. He is a great basketball player, a superstar worthy of the name.
He is also 33 years old, and this isn’t the first time he’s had a season-ending injury. One can’t help but wonder how much he’s got left in the tank, and even if he does, is it enough? Along with having another injury-prone player on the roster and the best rookie the Mavs have gotten since Doncic, how is Kyrie Irving going to slot in? On top of that, how is he going to look coming back from injury in the middle of the season? Is he going to be a positive asset if the Mavs are looking to make a playoff push come early 2026?
There are a lot of concerns. Though these concerns have a lot of merit to them, they’re pretty similar to the ones that were there when the Mavs first traded for him. They’re also ones that I believe he’ll dispel as he comes back to the court for this 24-25 NBA season. Kyrie has proven time and time again that the Mavericks can rely on him.
It isn’t too much to expect for him to come back and be a solid 20-25 PPG scorer. He may lose a step, but his accuracy from the field shouldn’t be impacted. He doesn’t take enough shots at the rim to say that his injury will affect that profile of his offense. His handles are etched into the very fiber of his being and that shouldn’t take a hit either. Though his defense was already compromised by his size, this injury may take him even further away from being able to compete on that end. How the Dallas Mavericks perform as he gets back will be heavily dependent on his teammates, but Kyrie will surely put his best foot forward and compete with the team, regardless of circumstances.
We should all expect him to hit the ground running, being the Mavericks’ primary ball-handler and their clutch iso player. He’s had no previous indication of not being able to compete after a season-ending injury, and this time should be no different. Even if we won’t see him for the first half of the season (or more), we should still expect great things from him.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26066029/2205259741.jpg "Georgia Tech v Duke")
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26066524/2224532865.jpg "2025 NBA Summer League - Charlotte Hornets v Dallas Mavericks")
