When Kyrie Irving suffered a torn ACL last March, everyone knew that the star point guard would miss a significant chunk of the 2025-26 season. The recovery timeline became murkier as the year progressed, and after the Dallas Mavericks sunk further into quicksand, the expectation was that he would not play at all until the next campaign. The team officially shut down Irving on Wednesday, a move that fans appreciate immensely.
Mavs head coach Jason Kidd specifically explained why the 2016 NBA champion will be inactive for the remainder of the season.
“Long-term health,” he said, per Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News. “We want to make sure he's ready to go for next season…For him, at practice, some of the things that he's working on, he looks good. I think as we get into March and April, we want him to keep going in the right direction. For that decision he made, we're thinking about the long term of his health and for us being healthy going into next season.”
The Mavericks are hoping to come back strong next season
Dallas obviously does not want Irving to return for the final stretch of a lost campaign and potentially suffer a setback or inadvertently hurt the franchise's draft positioning. The Mavericks have had a miserable year, as they lumber their way through the post-Luka Doncic era. Fantastic rookie Cooper Flagg ensures that Dallas can return to an upward trajectory at some point soon, but he could certainly use some more help.
A premium draft pick in a loaded class could give the Mavs one of the brightest futures in the NBA. It also benefits Kyrie Irving. The 33-year-old knows he has a limited amount of time to win another ring. He is still a high-level scorer, but carrying huge offensive responsibilities on a nightly basis seems impractical, especially following a major injury. An ascending Flagg and a possible top-five pick could shoulder the burden a bit.
Though, because of the youthful talent on this roster, Irving will still be a vitally important component of the Mavericks for the next two seasons. He cannot take on that role unless he is healthy, however. The future Hall of Famer now has an additional 200-plus days to get right.
