The Dallas Mavericks traveled to Sacramento to take on the Kings in the Western Conference 9-10 matchup of the NBA's play-in tournament on Wednesday. On NBA Countdown before the play-in double header began on ESPN, Shams Charania joined the show to give an update on Kyrie Irving.

The nine-time All-Star Irving, now 33 years old, tore the ACL in his left knee during a game against the Sacramento Kings in early March ( video here ). ACL tears are generally 10-12 month injuries, so Irving may end up on the early end of that timeline if all goes according to plan.

After the latest PR debacle to come out of Dallas in the wake of the Luka Dončić trade (this time Nico Harrison continuing to trip over himself at every public turn to justify the deal), the Mavericks are perhaps trying to counter the negative vibes engulfing their franchise by throwing a little bit of good news out into the ether.