Irving (knee) has been playing in pickup games this offseason in an effort to ramp up toward his return to the court in 2026-27, Tim MacMahon of ESPN reports.
Irving suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in March 2025 and did not play in the 2025-26 campaign. The veteran point guard has had plenty of time to recover and will enter training camp having played in pickup games this summer. It wouldn't be surprising to see the 34-year-old enter the season on a minutes restriction, though it appears likely he'll be ready to play by Opening Night. Irving appeared in 50 regular-season games in 2024-25 before suffering the knee injury, averaging 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.8 combined steals-plus-blocks in 36.1 minutes per contest.