One month after a franchise-altering decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks‘ season has turned into a disaster beyond their imaginations. Although the acquisition of Kyrie Irving as part of the Doncic trade was supposed to help keep Dallas in position to make it back to the NBA Finals, Irving was lost for the season to a torn ACL on Monday, making the Mavs’ already bad situation when it comes to injuries even worse.
Injuries to Irving, Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II have placed a particular burden on four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson, one of the Mavs’ biggest acquisitions of the offseason. Thompson now finds himself in an extremely difficult position due to the injuries around him, and his father and former NBA champion Mychal Thompson let onto some of his thinking since the Luka Doncic trade while speaking on ESPN Los Angeles.
“He thought with Luka and Kyrie that they had a chance to get back to the Finals. Obviously Luka left, and I told him, ‘Well, when AD is coming you’ve still got a chance to get to the Finals because AD is that good,'” Thompson said. “Then he’s hurt, and then Gafford got hurt. Then Lively got hurt. So yeah, Klay is stuck in purgatory right now. And if they hang onto the 10 seed, that’ll be the story of the year in the NBA. Because I think they’re gonna lose 10 in a row.”
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Given the situation, the narrative around the Mavericks is a grim one. Many have suggested Dallas should pack it in and tank the rest of the season to have a better chance in the NBA Draft Lottery. In Thompson’s mind, the ultimate goal of getting back to the Finals is off the table — but in his opinion, not all is lost.
“If you can get AD back, if you get the two other bigs back, you’ve got a chance to at least get to the first round and to try to get out of it,” Thompson said. “But without Kyrie, they can forget about going to the Finals.”
