The Dallas Mavericks’ season is over, and the attention turns to the future of guard Kyrie Irving.
Dallas acquired the All-Star guard and forward Markieff Morris from the Brooklyn Nets on February 5 in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, and multiple draft picks.
“I didn’t know if this would be some kind of magic pill,” General Manager Nico Harrison told the media when asked about the trade on Tuesday. “I don’t think I had any visions of that, but I figured it couldn’t be worse than it was. I also looked at it as a long-term play, not a short-term play. Getting this trade wasn’t for the three months.”
Upon his arrival, Irving requested that media members restrain from asking about his contract situation and the future of his playing career until the end of the season so he could avoid being an “unwarranted distraction.”
There has been speculation about the futures of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving in Dallas, but Harrison believes the team is in a good position to retain both players.
“I think the things he’s said along the way — about how he feels here, how he feels appreciated, how he feels accepted and allowed to be himself — those are the things he’s said kind of consistently and that’s what gives me optimism that he wants to be here,” Harrison said of Irving as he answered questions from the media.
“Kyrie’s definitely somebody that we want here, and we’re excited about the potential of him being here.”
Rumors have begun to swirl about the possibility of Doncic wanting a trade out of Dallas, but Harrison is not worrying about that yet.
“I take his word for it,” the general manager said Tuesday. “He says he wants to be here; he’s under contract. I don’t go to sleep at night worried about ‘Is Luka going to be a Maverick?’ because he is a Maverick and he’s under contract. Obviously, if that changes, we’ll have to re-evaluate, but I think our job is surrounding him with the right players to help him win, and I think Luka’s a talent that deserves that.”
Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George concedes that Doncic is a great offensive player and acknowledges that he does plenty for the Mavericks. However, George recently called out Doncic’s defense on his podcast.
“Some people just can’t play defense, and that’s OK,” George remarked to his co-hosts while talking about Doncic. “As good as he is offensively, some people are just not gifted defensively, and vice versa.”
George’s comments come on the heels of Doncic calling for the Mavericks to play better defense as a team, which Harrison echoed while meeting with the media Tuesday.
“For us going into the offseason, the two biggest things we need to work on is defense — period — and rebounding, ” he analyzed. “So, that’s going to be addressed.”
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NBA Play-Ins
The NBA “Play-In” games began on Tuesday night with the Atlanta Hawks (41-41) knocking off the Miami Heat (44-38) to claim the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference and the Los Angeles Lakers (43-39) taking down the Minnesota Timberwolves (42-40) in overtime to clinch the seventh seed in the Western Conference.
The Hawks and Lakers will advance into the 16-team playoff field and face the Boston Celtics and Memphis Grizzlies, respectively.
Miami and Minnesota will play the winners of Wednesday’s play-in games for the final two playoff spots on Friday night.
The Chicago Bulls (40-42) play the Toronto Raptors (41-41) at 6 p.m. CT, while the New Orleans Pelicans (42-40) take on the Oklahoma City Thunder (40-42) at 8:30 p.m. CT.
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Playoffs
The NBA Playoffs begin with four games on Saturday, April 15. The Philadelphia 76ers (54-28) and Brooklyn Nets (45-37) will be the first game at noon CT.