When the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA draft lottery and used the No. 1 pick on Duke University phenom Cooper Flagg, it resulted in a surge of optimism for the franchise. That optimism was badly needed after it inexplicably traded away generational superstar Luka Doncic in early February.
When healthy, Dallas has what looks like a very strong roster that could become a dark-horse team in the Western Conference. But it isn’t healthy right now, mostly because star point guard Kyrie Irving is recovering from a torn ACL he suffered late last season.
It has been hoped that perhaps he will be able to return to action by the midway point of this season. But he said that there is “no timetable” for his return.
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For years, Irving has been a force. He helped LeBron James lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first NBA championship in 2016, and he has been named an All-Star nine times, including last season when he averaged 24.7 points and 4.6 assists a game prior to his injury.
It has been projected that he and superstar big man Anthony Davis, whom the Mavs acquired in the Doncic trade, could become a very potent duo, and the team has a very sturdy frontline that includes Davis, Flagg, Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II and P.J. Washington.
In order to give themselves a stopgap solution while Irving is out, the Mavericks brought in veteran point guard D’Angelo Russell, a former All-Star, this summer. Russell has had some nice seasons where he has shot the basketball from distance at a fairly high clip, but last season, he made only 39% of his overall field-goal attempts and 31.4% of his 3-point tries.
It is expected that Flagg, a do-it-all 6-foot-9 forward, will get some run as the team’s main ball handler this season, partly because he displayed that capability in college and partly out of necessity due to Irving’s ailment.
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Regardless of when Irving returns and how he’s able to play afterward, it looks like he will remain in Dallas for a while. In June, the 33-year-old signed a three-year, $118.5 contract extension that will run through the 2027-28 season. The final season of that extension is a player option year.
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