Mavericks may have just mastered the NBA's most controversial strategy

The NBA recently fined the Utah Jazz and the Indiana Pacers for sitting healthy players, and seemingly everyone is talking about tanking as the NBA season winds down in less than two months. Teams have to do whatever it takes to improve their positioning ahead of the 2026 NBA Draft, and this includes shutting down players.

On Wednesday, Dallas announced that Kyrie Irving would miss the rest of the 2025-26 season as he recovers from a torn ACL. Irving tore his ACL last March, and while he was poised to be healthy enough to return later this season, the Mavericks accelerated the tank and took the risk-free approach by shutting him down.

Now, Dallas can fully focus on next season and landing a favorable first-round pick to pair with Cooper Flagg. This year's pick is the only first-round selection that Dallas fully controls until 2031, and they have to make it count. Irving sitting for the rest of the season made this possibility that much easier, as the Mavericks could find themselves in the top five of the draft if they act strategically.

Dallas has tanking down to a science

The Mavericks currently have the seventh-best odds of receiving the No. 1 overall pick, and losing more games down the stretch should help them plummet even further in the standings. Jason Kidd has made it clear that development is one of the team's priorities as the 2025-26 season comes to a close, and they should get plenty of this without Irving on the court.

With tanking being at the top of conversations around the league recently, it's worth noting that the Mavericks have done it effectively multiple times over the last few years. Shutting down Kyrie Irving was an excellent tanking move, but their history of making win-later moves stretches far beyond this season.

Dallas tanked during the 2017-18 season, and this included Rick Carlisle prioritizing development over winning and sitting key players in some clutch situations. In the end, the Mavericks ended up with the No. 5 overall pick and were able to move up and draft Luka Doncic.

Deliberately tanking allowed the Mavericks to land one of the greatest players in franchise history, but their history of tanking doesn't stop there.

The Mavs tanked as recently as three years ago, as they had to ensure that they kept their top-10 protected first-round pick in 2023. The Mavericks prioritized tanking rather than pushing for a spot in the Play-In Tournament, and a couple of extra losses near the end of the season helped them keep their pick.

Dallas traded down two spots and drafted Dereck Lively II, and tanking directly helped them build a good enough roster to reach the 2024 NBA Finals. The Mavericks wouldn't have made the finals during Lively II's rookie year without him, and they were finally able to add the elite rim protector and lob threat that Doncic desperately needed.

Now, multiple years later, Dallas sits in a similar position. They have to find a co-star for Cooper Flagg, and the best way to do this is obviously the draft.

Trading Anthony Davis and sitting Irving for the rest of the season should put the Mavericks in a prime position to pick somewhere in the top eight of the draft, and tanking could end up paying off massively for them as it has in the past.