Kyrie Irving Ruled Out for Season: Fantasy Fallout and Mavericks Impact

Kyrie Irving hasn't suited up all season, and now he's been ruled out for the season. Let's break down what that means for the Mavericks, and for fantasy basketball owners.

We'll take a look at how to approach Irving and other Mavericks.

Fantasy basketball injury news can be found all season on FantasySP.

News and Stats

Irving hasn't played this season as he is working his way back from a torn ACL that he suffered in March of last year. He will sit out the rest of the season in order to give himself more time to heal before the 2026-27 season.

Irving is obviously one of the better players in the NBA when he's healthy, but we've yet to see him since the injury, so we will have to wait even longer now to see if he's able to regain his old form.

Irving is 33 years old now and will be 34 by the time he's back on the court. I think he's got some gas left in the tank, but that remains to be seen.

He is averaging 23.7 points, 5.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 0.4 blocks over 34.5 minutes per game in his 14-year career. Irving is a 47.4% shooter overall and he's 39.4% from 3-point land.

He's averaged 25.6 and 24.7 points per game in his first two full seasons in Dallas, so before the injury, he was still a high-end scorer. He combines for about 10 rebounds and assists per game, and adding in some occasional steals and blocks, he's a very good fantasy asset.

Outlook for Irving

Any fantasy owners who were holding out hope for Irving can safely drop him now. He has no appeal in redraft leagues anymore.

Irving is still worth holding in dynasty/keeper leagues, but hopefully you are able to stash him in an injured reserve spot. If he's taken up a bench spot to this point of the season though, then you know the ropes and how to proceed without him.

Irving could have been a nice late-season asset to deploy, but now fantasy owners will have to look elsewhere for help. I still think he will be an asset in the seasons to come, so I'd do my best to keep rostering him.

Now is a time to buy low on Irving, but that of course comes with some risk. Again though, there's nothing to suggest that he isn't going to be the same player when he comes back, so I'd want to hold him if I rostered him.

If you can take a gamble and want to buy low on Irving, then I say go for it. It's not often that you can acquire top-end fantasy talent for cheap, so take advantage of things while you can.

Outlook for the Mavericks

Irving has been out all season, so not much really changes for the Mavericks.

Dallas is also without Dereck Lively II for the season, and have Cooper Flagg, Daniel Gafford, Naji Marshall and Caleb Martin banged up right now (or at least before the All-Star break).

Flagg is the star of the team, and that will continue whenever he's active and on the court. After the trade of Anthony Davis and now the injury concern with Irving, this team should be led by Flagg for the foreseeable future now.

P.J. Washington, Marshall, Max Christie, newcomers Marvin Bagley III and Khris Middleton, Klay Thompson, Brandon Williams, Gafford, Ryan Nembhard, Tyus Jones, Martin, Dwight Powell and Moussa Cisse are among the options that will help out Flagg the rest of the season.

Behind Flagg, Marshall has been the next-best fantasy asset, so his health will be worth watching as well. Christie, Washington and Williams are three others with pretty good fantasy marks for the season.

Irving is a point guard, where Williams should carry the load the rest of the season. Jones, Nembhard and Flagg are additional options at point guard.

Not having Irving around means several others will have expanded roles, like they have all season. You'll want to be keeping an eye on the team's gamelogs and the waiver wire list here to see who is stepping up and might be worth adding/streaming.

Christie is owned in about 60% of fantasy leagues right now, while Williams is down at 35%. Thompson is rostered in just 28% of leagues. Jones (5%) and Nembhard (3%) are barely-owned guards.

Flagg is of course owned in all leagues, and Marshall is way up at 88%. Washington sits around 84% rostered, while Bagley is at 50%. Middleton is at just 17% right now.

At center, Gafford is rostered in 56% of leagues.