5 Peaks and 5 pits from the Dallas Mavericks' season thus far

The Dallas Mavericks have had one of the more enjoyable starts to a season in franchise history through 23 games this season

Dallas has certainly had their fair share of injury woes, but barring that things are going as well as could be expected at this point in the season for Dallas.

Derrick Jones Jr.'s ability to serve as a starting wing along with rookie center Dereck Lively II being much more far ahead in his development than originally anticipated before training camp, has given Dallas a much-needed boost of athleticism and energy on both sides of the ball.

5 peaks and 5 pits from the Dallas Mavericks' season thus far

Dallas also has two candidates who are potentially leading cases for two different awards at the end of the season, that being Luka Doncic and Tim Hardaway Jr. Regardless if Doncic wins MVP or Hardaway Jr. wins Sixth Man of the Year, their uptick in play as well as how bought in both of them have been defensively is showing that they are ready to help lead Dallas to an exciting playoff run.

Dallas doesn't have every hole on their roster filled out quite yet, but they have the basic principles of a contender if they potentially swing some pieces in via trade and get some positive luck on the injury front. It's been a rollercoaster season in Dallas so far, but one that's exciting as ever.

Nonetheless, here are five peaks and five pits from the Dallas Mavericks' season thus far.

10. Pit: Kyrie’s recent foot injury

After dealing with foot issues to start the season, it was quite a relief to see Kyrie Irving string together a consistent stretch of games for Dallas recently. Unfortunately for Dallas, that all came to a halt last Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers, when Irving re-aggravated the same right foot that he's been having issues with, in a freak accident with fellow teammate Dwight Powell under the basket.

Irving's injury has been labeled to be nothing more than a contusion, but Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd placed no timetable for Irving's return when he spoke to the media ahead of the Mavericks' Tuesday night victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Kidd also said that Irving has been using crutches to walk and Irving has been wearing a protective boot over his right foot as well.

The severity of Irving's injury seems to be extremely unknown, as the optics of the situation are terrible, but the Mavericks have labeled his injury to be seemingly nothing more than a bruise. Irving has only missed two games for Dallas so far and they've luckily won both, but the Mavericks could be presented with some tough challenges if Irving misses an extended period of time.

Irving was averaging 23 points per game, 3.9 rebounds per game, and 5.2 assists per game for Dallas through 17 contests this year, and he was just coming off a bounce-back performance in Utah after a minor tweak of his foot against Memphis on December 1. Hopefully, Irving gets back on the court soon because if he misses extended time, it could put Dallas in a precarious situation in the standings soon.