The Dallas Mavericks went through a rough stretch in the aftermath of pulling off the controversial Luka Doncic trade, and their playoff hopes took a major hit when Kyrie Irving tore his ACL — with the serious knee injury set to keep the Mavericks star out for a considerable period of time.

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.

The Dallas Mavericks are optimistic that Kyrie Irving will return from his ACL tear by January, ESPN's Shams Charania reported on "NBA Countdown" Wednesday.Irving played 50 games this season before suffering the injury in early March.