The Dallas Mavericks called it a season Friday by shutting down Luka Doncic before mathematical elimination, but the loss to the Chicago Bulls was an ugly necessity for the franchise's future.

The play-in may have reduced tanking overall, but it remains situationally endemic to the NBA. This was the must-lose game for Dallas. Both teams held 38-42 records going into the matchup, tied for the 10th-worst record in the league.

With the loss, Dallas sits alone at No. 10 in the lottery—the exact number protecting its 2023 first-round pick from conveying to the New York Knicks in June, as it still owes a first-rounder from the 2019 Kristaps Porzingis deal.

This isn't about Victor Wembanyama and the 3 percent chance of a Dallas miracle. It's about having a key asset with the team at a crossroads.

The Mavericks made the play for Kyrie Irving ahead of the deadline to partner him with Doncic. But too much depth was lost to compete viably for the postseason.

Now the time nears to either recommit to Irving, an impending free agent, and flesh out the rest of the roster or go in a different direction entirely.

The Irving Question

Getting a player as talented as Irving isn't easy—even if competing executives and scouts wonder if Dallas will ever be a real contender with two stars who are defensive liabilities. But many agree that the small sample wasn't enough, not with the roster as constructed.

According to multiple NBA sources, Irving was motivated to leave the Brooklyn Nets because the team was reluctant to pay him his asking price, starting at the projected maximum salary of $46.9 million (the exact number is to be determined, as the NBA and NBPA are still writing up the new collective bargaining rules in the form of a term sheet).

Soon the Mavericks will be able to pay him that max, but will they?