When the Mavericks players met in Los Angeles last week for some player-organized workouts, Kyrie Irving couldn't participate in everything. He underwent hand surgery back in July for a fractured left hand and hadn't been fully cleared (there was no timetable announced with the surgery).

Irving should be cleared by training camp, Marc Stein reported on the DLLS Mavs podcast (hat tip Real GM).

"At this point he has not been cleared yet for full 5-on-5 hoop, but basically what I've been told is he remains on course to be cleared in time for training camp so I don't think there's any concern there."

That's good news for the Mavericks. Irving averaged 25.6 points, 5.2 assists and 5 rebounds a game last season, shooting 41.1% from 3.

Irving was at the heart of Dallas' run to the NBA Finals last June, and he also was key to the recruitment of Klay Thompson to the Mavericks this summer, something else Stein talked about. Thompson and Irving knew each other from Team USA, and Irving was able to speak to Thompson about how coming to Dallas allowed him to change his narrative — something that appealed to Thompson. The Lakers put more money on the table (and it's where Thompson's father wanted him to go), but the appeal of a starting role on a contender — and the changing narrative — mattered more than money, so Thompson headed to Texas.

Adding Thompson, as well as Naji Marshall and Quentin Grimes, plus an entire season with P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford on the roster, should help Dallas take a step forward from last season. They will need to. The West is a viper pit this season with more good teams than playoff spots, and teams will have to get better just to hold on to their spot.

That also means Dallas needs a healthy and focused Irving, and it sounds like they will have that.