The Kyrie Irving experiment hasn't worked out swimmingly for the Dallas Mavericks, and they're likely headed toward a divorce this offseason.
When the Dallas Mavericks made the bold move to acquire Kyrie Irving at last year's NBA Trade Deadline, the belief was that the front office had finally found a worthy running mate for Luka Doncic. However, since adding Kyrie, that hasn't exactly translated to on-the-court play. Kyrie is surely a big name and carries a ton of weight on paper, but he hasn't made the impact that perhaps many believed he would playing next to Luka.
That's been evident the most this season. At 34-28, the Mavs are reeling in the Western Conference standings and find themselves in danger of falling out of the top 8. Overall, the Mavs have lost five of their last six games, leading to some natural frustration. Since January 12, the Mavs are 12-13. If that's not a warning sign, I'm not sure what is.
The move for Kyrie Irving has been one big miscalculation by the Dallas Mavericks
It's safe to say that more than a year into the Kyrie experiment, it's not working. And hasn't worked as the Mavs believed it would. The hope in acquiring Kyrie was that the move would help the Mavs emerge as a contender in the Western Conference. After missing the playoffs last season, the Mavs are now playing to avoid the Play-In Tournament this year. It's been a near disaster, considering how much of a risk Dallas was taking with the move.
With just a few weeks before the end of the regular season and not much to look forward to when the playoffs do begin, the Mavs will have some big questions to answer heading into the summer. And with the way things look now, I'd argue that the Mavs and Kyrie could very much be headed toward an offseason divorce. Let's explore three reasons why.
Kyrie Irving hasn't made the Dallas Mavericks better
From an objective standpoint, it would be hard to find anyone who genuinely believes that Kyrie Irving has made the Dallas Mavericks better. And if he has, it's not to the grand extent where it's visibly evident. Sure, Kyrie may have made the Mavs slightly better in some areas, but overall, you have to dig pretty deep in order to find the evidence of that. Looking at the basic numbers, it's almost impossible to come to that conclusion.
Dating back to last season, the Mavs were 8-12 in the 20 games he played in. Dallas ended up missing the playoffs last year. Admittedly, the numbers have been slightly better this year. In the 40 games that Kyrie has played this season, the Mavs are 23-17. Without him, they're 11-11. In essence, the Mavs are a slightly above-average team with Kyrie and an average team without Kyrie in the lineup.
The Mavs were 30-32 last season without Kyrie. Again, they're slightly better with Kyrie but also not to the extent that one would expect. The duo of Luka and Kyrie should be lethal. More often than not, it's been more tease than substance.
The Dallas Mavericks don't have much time to sell Luka Doncic on the future
Last offseason, there was speculation that keeping Luka Doncic happy in Dallas could prove to be difficult. You'd have to imagine that played at least a big part in the Mavs going all-in for Kyrie Irving at least year's NBA Trade Deadline. And if there's any indication that Luka is growing up unhappy with likely back-to-back disappointing seasons, the pressure is only going to grow for the front office.
With only two guaranteed years remaining on his contract before he can possibly test free agency, the clock is officially on the Mavs' front office to figure this championship puzzle out. Luka isn't likely to be thinking about leaving the Mavs at the moment, but those questions are naturally going to begin to arise if this team continues to underwhelm.
If the Mavs were hoping that the big move for Kyrie was going to help sell Luka on the future of the Mavs, I'm not sure it could've gone any worse. Luka needs a worthy supporting star and short of something changing drastically over the next few weeks, it doesn't appear as if Kyrie is that piece.
Kyrie Irving has one year remaining on his contract
From a logistical standpoint, there's a very real chance that the Dallas Mavericks end up shopping Kyrie Irving on the trade market this summer simply based on his contract situation. After this season, Kyrie just has one guaranteed year remaining on his contract before he can opt-out and test free agency again. If both sides know that this pairing isn't working, and that's becoming evidently clear, there's no reason to drag this out another year.
Considering the basis of his contract, it may very well be in the best interest of both sides to explore a trade, or divorce, this summer. If the Mavs don't want to risk losing Kyrie for nothing in free agency and already know that they don't want to sign him beyond this contract, trading him is the next natural move.
With how productive he still is at this point in his career, there could be a fair trade market for Kyrie. It may not be as strong as it once was, but there will be more than a few teams that would be willing to take on one year of Kyrie if the asking price isn't high.
Unless the Mavs make a deep playoff run, which seems extremely unlikely, it's looking more and more like a divorce could be on the horizon for Kyrie and Dallas.