NBA Insider Warns Of Disastrous Ending In Dallas To Kyrie Irving Era

The Dallas Mavericks have stumbled badly in the Kyrie Irving era. He's missed two potential game-winners, and the team has lost five of six games with the Luka Doncic-Kyrie pairing. And on defense, it's even worse. They've allowed over 110 points in all of those games. 

Now, Insider, and former NBA front office type, John Hollinger is warning of an even more perilous fate for the Mavs:

Keep an eye on this situation. Between Irving’s wandering eye for L.A. this summer, the potential of Luka Doncic’s frustration boiling over and [Jason] Kidd’s history of things ending badly when they end, this could get a lot worse before it gets better.

Irving has averaged 24.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 6.9 assists in his seven games, but the defensive shortcomings have been a nightmare. Hollinger calls the blockbuster trade to acquire Kyrie a "quasi-reckless gamble" that may cost the Mavs dearly.

Irving becomes a free agent after the season, and he and the Lakers have been flirting about getting together pretty much all season long, behind the scenes. It's blatantly out there that LeBron James wants him in L.A. 

The current 1-5 swoon has dropped Dallas to 7th spot in the tightly-packed Western Conference, just two games up on the 11th place Lakers. If they can figure things out, however, they're also just two games out of the 4-seed. 

This will be an interesting—perhaps even explosive—plotline to follow through the rest of the NBA season. 

Photo: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports