The Dallas Mavericks are rapidly fading out of the play-in tournament picture, and the team is now thinking about sitting stars Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic for the rest of the season, according to a report.
The Mavericks have lost three consecutive games and seven of their last eight games. They currently sit in 11th place in the Western Conference, one game behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for the 10th and final spot for the play-in tournament. The Thunder own the tiebreaker against the Mavericks.
The Mavericks have three games remaining in the regular season and, with some help, they could conceivably reach the ninth spot. However, they are thinking about their position in the upcoming draft and could decide to tank their remaining games.
The Mavericks owe the New York Knicks a first-round draft pick after they acquired Kristaps Porzingis in a trade in January 2019. However, the pick is a top-10 protected selection, meaning if the Mavericks fail to earn a berth in the play-in tournament, they would be in the top-10 of the draft order and retain the pick.
The Mavericks are expected to try and to re-sign Irving, who’ll be a free agent, during the offseason. They are 7-12 since they acquired the point guard, but they must believe that pairing him with Doncic will pay off next season. If the Mavericks keep the pick, the speculation is they will include that pick as part of a potential trade package to acquire another major star.