The Dallas Mavericks’ 2022-23 NBA season is all but over, as they have just one regular season game left on the schedule and have been eliminated from postseason contention.
While there are a lot of issues surrounding the Mavs, the biggest concern heading into the offseason arguably has to do with star point guard Kyrie Irving.
Earlier this season, the Mavs sent a combination of players and picks to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for the polarizing star, and he is set to become a free agent this summer. Irving is expected to test the market.
In the opinion of one NBA source, the Mavericks aren’t going to run into any issues trying to re-sign Irving this offseason. Instead, that source expects the issues to begin once Irving is locked into a deal with the franchise.
“Getting Irving to stay shouldn’t be a problem for the Mavericks,” the source said, according to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. “The issues will start once they bring him back.”
As all NBA fans know, Irving has been a major headache for basically every franchise that he has played with in his illustrious NBA career. He’s requested a trade from two of the franchises that he’s played for (the Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers), and he had major issues with the Boston Celtics during his stint with that franchise.
In his personal life, Irving has had other serious issues. Most notably, the eight-time All-Star served a suspension earlier this season after promoting a movie that contained antisemitic material. Fans were disturbed by his initial reluctance to apologize for sharing a link to the movie.
All issues aside, there is no denying that Irving is a very special player on the court. This season, he’s averaging 27.1 points, 5.5 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game. However, those impressive numbers have not lead to success with his new team.
The Mavs have suffered mightily since acquiring Irving, and the team has just a 5-11 record with both Irving and fellow star Luka Doncic on the court together.
Still, the Mavs have backed themselves into a corner, and re-signing Irving despite the lack of success this season is probably their best option right now.
If Dallas ends up managing to re-sign Irving, only time will tell if any issues arise after that. Fans all over the league will surely be looking for them.
