Kyrie Irving, who had ACL surgery on March 26, may return to the Mavericks sometime in late December.
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MEXICO CITY — Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd suggested Saturday that Kyrie Irving could return to the court before the calendar year is over.
“We just can’t wait to get Kai back at some point,” Kidd said. “Hopefully it’s in the year ’25, not ’26. But we’ll see what happens.”
Irving suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in a March 3 game against the Sacramento Kings. He had surgery on March 26, which means it’s been a little more than seven months since then.
Irving has been in the gym regularly doing light on-court workouts over the past month, but until Saturday, the Mavericks were hesitant to put any sort of timetable on the 33-year-old’s return.
“When we do see Kyrie shooting, can we refrain from saying, ‘Ahead of schedule?’” Kidd said at Mavericks media day in September. “That’s bad reporting. I’m just giving you the answer to the test. He’s doing quite well as we can see. But he’s not ahead of schedule. Let’s not say that. It’s unfair to him and the Mavs. Is he on schedule? It looks like it. A lot of positive things are happening. But the report that he’s ahead of schedule is not fair.”
Recovery from an ACL tear typically takes nine months, at minimum. If Irving is able to return sometime in late December — a possibility, based on Kidd’s comments — he would be roughly nine months post-surgery.
Last season, Irving was only able to play in one game with Anthony Davis. Davis got hurt in his first game with the Mavericks on Feb. 8. Roughly three weeks later, Irving planted on a Kings player’s foot and had to be carried off the floor with structural damage in his left knee.
Davis is out again for Dallas. He suffered a left calf strain on Wednesday. He will miss the Mavericks’ next two games at least.
With Irving sidelined this season, the Mavericks have opted to give Cooper Flagg heavy minutes at point guard. They entered Saturday’s game against the Detroit Pistons in Mexico City ranked dead last in the NBA in offensive rating.
Kidd sounded optimistic about the possibility of pairing Irving and Flagg together.
“Kai is going to be a perfect fit with Cooper Flagg,” Kidd said. “When you talk about his skillset, being able to dribble and score, he also creates space on the floor for Cooper. And vice versa. Cooper creates space for Kai.”
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Christian Clark is an NBA reporter for The Athletic who is based in Dallas. Previously, he covered the New Orleans Pelicans for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Follow Christian on X @Christianpclark
