Kyrie Irving is playing with fire, and the Mavericks must step in ASAP

Sitting at 10-17 and being the 12th seed in the Western Conference, the Dallas Mavericks are finally looking like a competitive team, though it's hard to make the argument that Dallas could be a contender in this current climate for the next few years. There have been rumors that Kyrie Irving could return now if the playoffs started tomorrow, but the Mavericks can't have a repeat instance of rushing a player back from injury, and should probably shut down Irving for the rest of this season.

The Mavericks won't field a competitive playoff team versus any of the top seeds in the West this year, which is who they'd be playing against if they made the playoffs, in all likelihood. A trio of Cooper Flagg, Anthony Davis, and Irving simply isn't as stout as some of the other teams with top-end talent in the Western Conference, as Dallas would likely get waxed and humiliated by any team they dare take on in a potential playoff scenario.

For these reasons, there's no point in rushing back a 33-year-old point guard coming off a torn ACL like Irving, as Dallas is better off waiting for Irving to come back next season when he's guaranteed to be 100 percent healthy. Cutting and making quick-twitch movements are essential for guards, so the Mavericks must treat this situation as delicately as possible, as they clearly aren't competitive enough to warrant bringing Irving back whatsoever.

Mavericks should shut down Kyrie Irving for the rest of the season

With that being said, Dallas' most idealistic option this season would be to blow up the roster by trading players like Davis and Klay Thompson, and trying to be as bad as possible in hopes of securing one of the top picks in the talent-ridden 2026 NBA Draft.

The Mavericks will likely have conversations with Irving and his camp regarding his return once the time is right, and when those conversations happen, Dallas should attempt to shut him down and relay this plan to him.

After giving an extension to him last offseason, Dallas clearly wants Irving to be the veteran point guard on this team alongside Flagg, but with Dallas not controlling any of their future draft capital until 2031, the best course of action would be to halt on Irving's return.

This would prevent Dallas from pointlessly winning a mediocre amount of games, and relieve some financial stress from their roster as well, while hopefully losing enough to cement themselves with a bottom-five worst record in the league. This would give Dallas a 12.3 percent chance or higher at securing the top pick, and while the lottery odds have certainly been curved in recent years, the possibility of adding another young star with Flagg would be tantalizing for years to come.

Dallas could also field a solid squad with Irving at the helm next season, as there'd be no point in tanking considering they won't own their pick. While ACL recovery is already a long-winded process, and Irving will likely be doing whatever he can to return this season, given his competitive nature, the Mavericks must shut him down unless they really turn some heads in the standings in the coming weeks.