The Dallas Mavericks don’t know what kind of team that they want to be.

At the mercy of circumstances beyond their control, including injuries to perennial All-Star selections Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis, they currently stand at 12th in the West with a 15-25 record. Riveting rookie Cooper Flagg has helped to quell some of the darker thoughts about the direction the team was headed after trading Luka Doncic, an exceptional player on a Hall of Fame trajectory. Be that as it may, rookies normally don’t lead their team into playoff contention. Even ones with as much upside as their 19-year-old Maine import.

Dallas Mavericks: Trade, Sit, Or Play Anthony Davis & Kyrie Irving?

Consequently, the Mavs have the look of an organization with two timelines. At present, Flagg is cementing himself as a building block for their long-term future. However, their immediate success is more dependent on two of their established premier players. That’s Irving and Davis, who have 19 All-Star selections, eight All-NBA selections and two NBA champions between them.

The 2026 NBA Draft Awaits

Dallas owns their first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, which boasts one of the most esteemed draft classes in recent memory. Thus, there’s a question of whether they really should be pushing for the playoffs.

As of this moment, they’re projected to have the eighth overall pick in the upcoming draft. Prospects expected to be drafted in the top-10 that could appeal to the Mavericks include Houston point guard Kingston Flemings, Louisville point guard Mikel Brown Jr., Alabama point guard Labaron Philon, UConn shooting guard Braylon Mullins, and Kentucky big man Jayden Quaintance. Prospects such as Arkansas point guard Darius Acuff Jr., Baylor wing Cameron Carr, Illinois wing Keaton Wagler, and Washington big man Hannes Steinbach could sneak into that range.

Ultimately, they’d likely be in position to draft Irving’s successor considering the sheer number of quality lead guard prospects. Though there are several intriguing bigs that they could find later in the draft, they may be able to settle on Davis’s replacement much earlier. They could even find a young wing that complements a core headlined by Flagg, who is essentially Doncic’s heir apparent.

In spite of these invigorating scenarios, the NBA Draft can be a crapshoot. The Mavs should be well aware of this having drafted Dennis Smith Jr. with the ninth overall pick and Jalen Brunson with the 33rd overall pick. Even trying to manipulate the draft order is a gamble; there’s literally an NBA Draft Lottery. Consequently, there’s no guarantee that trading or sitting Davis or Irving will lead to better draft position or long-term success.

Controlling What They Can Control

If the Mavericks are focused on controlling what they can control, then their preference will be to reach the playoffs.

As previously stated, the draft offers no guarantees, even if they were to land a high pick. Furthermore, Dallas’s issue really isn’t that they lack talent. Despite how big the void Doncic left feels, the Mavs’ primary problem is that their two most successful players have played 20 games combined this season.

Bear in mind, Dallas is actually 10-10 with Davis this season. While a .500 record isn’t blowing anyone away, it would be the ninth-best win-loss percentage in the West, which is good enough for the Play-In Tournament. If Irving was starting rather than Brandon Williams or Ryan Nembhard, their offense would be much more potent. For reference, Williams and Nembhard are averaging 19.2 points per game combined this season. Irving has averaged 25.5 points per game in his Mavericks tenure.

Yet, neither Davis nor Irving will be returning to the court prior to the All-Star Break, which will take place from Feb. 13-15.

After suffering a left hand injury against the Utah Jazz, Davis “is expected to heal from the injury in six weeks,” the team announced. If Davis’s recovery goes according to plan, then he’ll likely be back in the first week of March. Irving has recently been active on the court during pre-game warm-ups. However, he’ll “realistically” be back on the court after the All-Star Break “as it stands,” Grant Afseth of DallasHoopsJournal.com reports.

Nov 12, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (left) and forward Cooper Flagg (32) look on during the first quarter against the Phoenix Suns at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Best Of Both Worlds, Kind Of…

Between Jan. 14–March 1, Dallas will play 20 games. Having won 25% of their games without Davis this season, they may very well go 5-15 during that stretch. If so, they would have a 20-40 record two-thirds of the way through 2025-26.

That win percentage (.333) would likely move them even further down in the Western Conference standings, to 13th. In fact, a .333 win percentage would be the sixth-worst in the NBA. In other words, they would be projected to pick sixth in the 2026 NBA Draft (the final results being dependent upon the NBA Draft Lottery).

Keeping that in perspective, the West is not as formidable as it once was. The Golden State Warriors are only three games above .500 and are in playoff contention with the conference’s eighth-best record. The Memphis Grizzlies are five games under .500 and in play-in contention with the conference’s 10th-best record. At 20-40, the hole could be too deep for the Mavs to dig themselves out of. Yet, there’s a legitimate chance that they could still vie for the postseason when Davis and Irving return.

To be frank, this is kind of an ideal scenario. It’s not exactly the best of both worlds. Nevertheless, they would still be marching down two timelines.

While still fighting for a playoff spot, Dallas would likely still be a lottery team. Even if they were to win the final 22 games of the season after starting 20-40, their subsequent win percentage (.525) would match that of the Miami Heat, who are currently projected to have the 15th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.