Knicks may become the next loser of Kyrie Irving’s disastrous season
The Knicks may not be able to avoid Kyrie Irving’s destruction.
With the Mavericks in a freefall ever since acquiring the point guard, the team is “seriously considering” shutting down Irving and Luka Doncic for the remainder of the season to assure an ideal spot in the draft lottery, according to The Athletic.
Such a move would hurt the Knicks because they own Dallas’ first-round pick and its top-10 protected. The Mavericks (37-42) currently own the NBA’s 10th-worst record and losing the rest of the games likely means the pick wouldn’t convey this year to New York. If the Mavericks stay in the 10th-worst spot, for instance, there’s an 80% chance the pick falls in the top-10. If the Mavericks move to ninth-worst spot (which is certainly possible if they’re tanking games), there’s a 96% chance the pick falls in the top-10.
The Knicks have no other first-round picks in the 2023 draft. If the Dallas pick doesn’t convey to the Knicks this year, it transfers to a top-10 protected pick in 2024. And if it doesn’t convey by 2025 — when it would also be top-10 protected — it becomes two second-round picks.
Since acquiring Irving from the Nets in February, the Mavericks are a miserable 9-16. They have fallen out of the play-in tournament just a year after advancing to the conference finals.
Irving, whose tenure in Brooklyn was defined by distractions and dysfunction, will be a free agent after the season. He hasn’t meshed with Doncic, who went from an MVP candidate to miserable and completely out of the race since adding Irving to the backcourt.
The big issue is defense. To acquire Irving, the Mavericks dealt one of their best defenders — Dorian Finney-Smith — and haven’t found a suitable replacement.
Irving and Doncic both have little regard for defense.
The Knicks acquired the 2023 first-round pick from Dallas for Kristaps Porzingis in 2019. In that deal, the Knicks also got Dallas’ 2021 first-round pick, which Leon Rose traded to draft Quentin Grimes.
