The Dallas Mavericks trading Luka Doncic started a domino effect in the worst way possible for the franchise. First, their prized acquisition Anthony Davis didn’t even make it through an entire game in his Dallas debut.
Then Doncic torched his former team in his first game against the Mavs since being traded. And now Kyrie Irving has a knee injury that could result in him missing significant time as well.
Kyrie Irving (left knee sprain) will not return to tonight's game against the Kings.
— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) March 4, 2025
Somehow things have gotten worse in Dallas since the Mavs made the head-scratching trade. When they slammed the door on Doncic, they put all their faith in two of the most injury prone players in the NBA right now.
As expected, both are now out with injuries. It’s unclear how long Irving will be out with his injury. The only certain thing is he won’t be back in Monday night’s contest against the Sacramento Kings.
Where do the Dallas Mavericks go as their roster continues to get depleted with injuries?
Irving was in a lot of pain after his knee apparently buckled while drawing contact on a layup. He was able to shoot his free throws to keep the possibility of his return, but he was later downgraded to out.
It was clear Irving wasn’t going to come back in the game as he couldn’t even leave the court under his own strength. With his injury, the Mavs are entering dangerous territory.
Dallas Mavericks a cursed franchise for real.
— Hater Report (@HaterReport_) March 4, 2025
Kyrie Irving’s leg injury doesn’t look good. Hope it’s not as bad as it looks.
pic.twitter.com/yXFwMyHdwu
Dallas felt the best way to win a championship was to trade a future face of the NBA for an aging, defensive behemoth that has been hampered by injury throughout his career – ironically, he was hurt when they traded for him.
Now with Irving out and Davis out for possibly another month, the Mavs couldn’t feel worse about the rest of the season. Entering Monday’s game, the Mavs were a No. 10 seed at 32-29, which is good enough for the final play-in spot.
That won’t last long. The Mavericks will continue to plummet as they are less healthy now than they were a few weeks ago. It’s clear the Mavericks won’t be making a second-straight NBA Finals appearance.
With Davis still out and Irving probable to be out for some time as well, the trade deadline move looks to be a wasted one. I guess they can look forward to next year, though if this year is any indication, next year could be far worse.