Dallas Mavericks Considering Tanking The Rest Of The 2022-23 NBA Season According To Report

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It wasn’t supposed to go this way for the Dallas Mavericks.

When the Mavericks and owner Mark Cuban traded for controversial superstar Kyrie Irving in February, it was with visions of raising a championship banner in mind.

As it turns out, acquiring the guy whose last two teams couldn’t get rid of him quickly enough may well have been a bad idea.

The Mavs were 28-26 on the day they acquired Irving. They now sit 37-42 and on the outside looking in at the Western Conference playoff race. That’s a 9-16 record since acquiring Irving. They’re also just 7-12 in games that Irving plays.

Not great!

Now it appears that Dallas is ready to call it quits on the 2022-23 NBA season altogether.

“I think the Mavericks have to look at whether you shut down Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving these last three games, maybe two games of the regular season,” Shams Charania of The Athletic said on Monday. “This is a team that is one game out of the play-in behind Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City I believe has the tiebreaker over them…I’m told that the organization is seriously considering shut down those three (two) guys.”

Charania then points out that the Mavericks have a top-10 protected NBA Draft pick that could go to the New York Knicks as part of a 2019 trade to acquire Kristaps Porzingis.

So if Dallas is to miss the playoffs, it’s better off missing big.

But that’s not all. Charania went on to say that the Mavs aren’t done with the Kyrie Irving experience. In fact, it appears that Dallas is hoping to double down on the All-Star point guard.

Irving’s ability on the court is undeniable. But it’s hard to say that’s worth dealing with everything that comes with it. And outside of one year alongside LeBron James, there’s no proof it translates to winning.

But hey, at least the Mavs are trying something.