The Dallas Mavericks have gone cold at the worst possible time, and soon they may shut down their star duo.
On Monday’s episode of “Run It Back,” Shams Charania reported that the Mavericks are considering shutting down both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving for the rest of the season.
“I think the Mavericks have to seriously look at whether you shut down Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving these last three games, maybe two games of the regular season,” Charania said. “This is a team that is one game out of the play-in behind Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City has the tiebreaker over them so they are essentially two games out of the play-in with just three, four games left. So you have to see what happens with Utah, what happens with Oklahoma City between now and Wednesday. The Mavs don’t play again until Wednesday at home against the Kings.”
Entering Monday, the Mavericks are the 11th seed in the Western Conference with a 37-42 record after an overtime loss in Atlanta. As Charania mentioned, they are just one game behind Oklahoma City for the 10th seed and the last spot in the play-in tournament. However, they are only a half-game ahead of Utah in the standings and have only won three of their last 10 games.
Since the All-Star break, Dallas has struggled mightily, only winning six of its last 19 games. While the acquisition of Irving in February has helped the offense to the 10th-best offensive rating since the break (117.5), the Mavs’ 118 defensive rating is only 23rd in the league.
After a disappointing season, the Mavericks will now have to attempt to re-sign Irving, who is scheduled to enter free agency this summer. They also have to decide on the future of Christian Wood, who is on an expiring contract. Charania adds that they could have a top-10-protected pick by missing the play-in, giving them three first-round picks as potential trade chips.
While it is not final, a decision to bench their star tandem could be give the Mavs a head start to the offseason.
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