The Dallas Mavericks pulled off the seemingly impossible feat of missing the playoffs with Luka Doncic on their roster. The superstar was mostly healthy and was later joined by Kyrie Irving but the Mavs still could not end the season in the top 10 of the Western Conference. An offseason full of uncertainty awaits the franchise.

With Irving headed into unrestricted free agency, it seems likely that the Mavs will be out two starters and a future first-round draft pick for just half a season of his services. However, the expectation from the Mavs and rival teams is that Irving stays in Dallas, according to Tim Cato of The Athletic. The Lakers, surprisingly, are not likely to make a run at him.

The Athletic reports that the Mavs “remain optimistic about their ability to re-sign Irving this summer after trading for him in February with the intention of a long-term partnership with Luka Dončić — and it is, league sources say, the expectation other teams have as well. While Dallas went 5-11 when Dončić and Irving played together, this catastrophic season had begun long before Irving’s arrival. And its ultimate failure, with the team resting starters in the final two games to maximize draft positioning, didn’t shake the team’s belief in what that duo can be.”

Given the Mavs' severe desperation to put a talented team around Doncic, they will surely put up the money to keep Irving. They will surely be looking to get another star around them to keep up in the West, too. Their fall from grace after making the Western Conference Finals last season has been steep and could lead to a situation where they eventually have to trade Doncic and rebuild from scratch.

Irving and Doncic have the talent to be a great duo that can make Dallas a winning team despite a putrid start to their time together. The Mavs need to put the right supporting cast in place and possibly even move on from head coach Jason Kidd, whose job security is far from ironclad. Failure to make those right moves could cost them a good relationship with the franchise superstar.