Kyrie Irving said the right things at media day, and the team said something better: no restrictions.
The Mavericks' guard, who tore his ACL in March 2025 and did not play a minute last season, has been cleared for full participation in training camp. The one open item is back-to-back games, which the medical staff will decide as the season goes. Team president Masai Ujiri said Irving is "right there."
It is the best news Dallas has had since Cooper Flagg won Rookie of the Year, and it raises a question nobody could ask a year ago: what exactly is Irving's job now?
The roster he left, and the one he's joining
When Irving went down, he was the co-star next to Anthony Davis on a team trying to justify the Luka Doncic trade. That team no longer exists. Davis was dealt to Washington in February, Klay Thompson is in Miami, and the coach who made the Irving-Doncic backcourt work, Jason Kidd, left in May.
What Irving walks into is a roster where the center of gravity is a 19-year-old. Flagg put up 21.0 points a game as a rookie, with 6.7 boards and 4.5 assists. The rest of the rotation skews young: Zaccharie Risacher is 21, draft picks Morez Johnson Jr. and Sergio de Larrea are 20.
Irving is 34, the second-oldest player in camp behind Dwight Powell.
Three ways it could go
He's the closer. The simplest version: Flagg runs the offense for three quarters and Irving takes over late. Irving has been one of the league's most reliable late-game shot-makers for more than a decade.
He's the teacher. New coach Dusty May has never coached in the NBA. A point guard who has played in the Finals and won a title can run things on the floor that a first-year coach is still learning.
