Things aren’t going anything close to the way the Mavericks expected after acquiring Kyrie Irving in a February trade.
Instead, they’ve gone the opposite, for the most part. As it stands, the Mavericks’ playoff hopes could be slipping away.
That was again on full display in a 110-104 loss to the Hornets on Sunday, marking Dallas’ second loss to lowly Charlotte in three days.
“It’s unfortunate that we let these two games go and we have to figure out a way to stop the bleeding,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd told reporters.
Star guards Luka Doncic and Irving tried to do their part. Doncic scored 40; Irving had 18. But the Mavs (36-39) have gone 7-13 since the Irving trade.
It’s been anything but an improvement at this point. As Kidd mentioned, the Mavs have not gotten it anything close to done on defense.
“Losing in basketball is very frustrating, especially when we have as talented a group as we do,” Irving said.
For the Mavs, you have to wonder if things will change anytime soon. Right now, they’re giving few reasons to believe.
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Dinwiddie. Finney-Smith. They had fairly large rolls on that team before they were traded. Historically underrated players (and still) who have reliable impact on every game. Hard gaps to fill with that roster, and the guy they got back does mostly different things than those two did. It’s a bad trade for the defensive end. Until they do something about it. Surprised they’re not more active on the FA market, unless they are, haven’t noticed yet though. They need added depth starting weeks ago.