Mavericks' Jason Kidd desperately optimistic about Kyrie Irving's recovery

"︀︀We just can't wait to get Kai back, at some point," Kidd said before Saturday's game against the Detroit Pistons. "Hopefully it's in the year of '25, not '26. We'll see what happens, but I think those two [Irving and Cooper Flagg] will be a perfect match in the backcourt."

They're going to keep trying to get Cooper Flagg more comfortable as a point guard until Irving is back, as they believe it's a developable skill for him, and they want him to be able to handle that pressure for when they reach the postseason. But that postseason is looking more like an "if," not a "when."

Will Kyrie Irving Save This Offense?

This offense has a lot of issues, and it's likely more than Kyrie Irving will be able to fix on his own. Outside of being last in offense rating, they're last in assist-to-turnover ratio, 25th in assist rate, 22nd in turnover rate, 28th in three-point makes per game, 24th in three-point attempts, and 25th in three-point percentage.

Irving will be able to help with some of that, but certainly not all of it. He's a great playmaker, but he's not a one-man engine like Luka Doncic is, which is why it hurts that he's not on this roster. The team doesn't have a lot of naturally great shooters. Klay Thompson has been off to a slow start, and while Max Christie has been great from behind the arc, the list kind of stops there.

Kyrie Irving is a great shooter and a wizard with the ball in his hands. However, he's never been the most traditional point guard in terms of getting others involved. That's why he's historically been at his best when he has another elite playmaker, such as Doncic or LeBron James, to play off of.