Mavericks star Kyrie Irving is unlikely to return to the court before the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 5, and reportedly may not return at all this season.
It has been more than 10 months since Dallas Mavericks star guard Kyrie Irving last appeared on the court after suffering a severe ACL injury that has sidelined him to this day.
And reportedly, his return may not come anytime soon. According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, Irving is unlikely to return before the Feb. 5 trade deadline, and his availability for the rest of the season remains in question.
“With Patrick Dumont in that decision-making seat, what he wants is to see the core trio, and that’s Kyrie Irving, [Anthony] Davis, then Cooper Flagg together before making any major decisions,” MacMahon said on the Howdy Partners podcast. “Now, the problem with that, based on what I’m hearing, Kyrie is not coming back before the trade deadline."
Credit Adam Pantozzi/NBAE
“Even if he did, it would be a tiny sample size. So you’re not going to have the luxury of that evaluation period before one major decision needs to be made—whether that’s trade him or don’t trade him.
“Either way, it is a major decision. I don’t know at this point if Kyrie is playing this season. I know he wants to. We’ll see if that’s in his best interest. We’ll see if it’s in the franchise’s best interest. Those are things that need to be sorted out,” he added.
Although recent clips of him working out before Thursday’s game against the Jazz provide hope that he could return earlier than anticipated, he looked to be in good shape during his pregame workout with Mavs assistant Phil Handy.
When healthy last season, Irving averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in 50 games with the Mavericks.
Without Irving this season, the Mavericks are currently outside the Play-In spots, sitting 11th in the Western Conference with a 14–24 record.
Thank you for reading us! We have even more content for you.
If you like our content, please click here and add us as your preferred source. It helps us a lot, and we are committed to delivering you the very latest basketball news.