3 Reasons why Kyrie Irving is the key to the Mavericks season

3. Because there is no other option

Is this a cop-out reason? Maybe. Is it completely valid? Absolutely.

When the Dallas Mavericks traded for Kyrie Irving at the deadline this past year, they pushed their chips onto the table. It may not have seemed like a massive package, but their present and future was jeopardized in that one moment.

Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith were key rotation pieces in Dallas, and the 2029 first-round pick they gave up was huge too, but not just because of the pick itself.

Because they traded their 2029 first, they are unable to move their 2028 and 2030 picks straight up - something most fans had been looking forward to doing in a larger deal down the line.

Irving might be the Mavericks’ last chance to pair Doncic with a star before his contract is up in the 2026-27 season (which has a player option in the final year of the deal).

The Kristaps Porzingis experiment failed, they let Jalen Brunson walk, and now, with Irving in town, they have one last chance to get it right. If they don’t, Doncic could request a trade out of Dallas or simply leave on his own terms.

The duo of Doncic and Irving has to work, and it has to help the Mavericks win games. There’s just no other option.