Exchanging smiles after taking turns cooking the opposition, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Kyrie Irving dazzled in their first matchup in years. The two NBA superstars have been fans of each other's game. They're two of the more prominent scoring guards over the last decade.

Now, Gilgeous-Alexander and Irving shared the floor once again. The Oklahoma City Thunder struggled through a 120-96 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. The two NBA franchises have swapped roles from previous years.

The Thunder are still overcoming what happened less than a week ago in a win over the LA Clippers. Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace were lost for basically the entire 2026-27 regular season. Williams sustained a fractured fibula and a dislocated ankle. Wallace had a torn labrum on his left shoulder. Both will require surgery that will sideline them for months.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks finally get Irving back. He missed the entire 2025-26 season with a torn ACL. The 34-year-old has gladly accepted a Robin role alongside ascending NBA superstar Cooper Flagg.

As the Thunder recover from their shell-shock, both all-time NBA point guards put up numbers. Gilgeous-Alexander had 21 points on 7-of-19 shooting. Irving finished with 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting. The two-time MVP winner was happy to see the future Hall-of-Famer get back to form.

"It's great to have a guy like that back. Obviously, a really talented basketball player. More guys we can have out there like that, the better the game is, in better hands," Gilgeous-Alexander said about Irving. "Guys that get the game taken away like that, unfortunately, through injuries, it sucks. It's good to have that piece back."

The Thunder are navigating a new NBA reality. No Williams and Wallace have knocked them down from the top title contender to a team trying to figure out if they can still contend or not. Gilgeous-Alexander believes they can overcome their humongous losses. They have 75-plus games to prove him right.

Maybe some outside help will be needed eventually at the 2027 NBA trade deadline. Is Irving a possibility? It'd be a dream-case scenario, but he has two years, $81.9 million left on his current contract. The 2027-28 season is a player option he'll surely pick up. I just don't think it's financially feasible to spend that much money on what is ultimately a Band-Aid for this year.

But it's a fun hypothetical to talk about. As the Thunder play out the next three months, the main storyline will be how Sam Presti and the rest of the front office handle the 2027 NBA trade deadline. That's their only real shot to get outside help to boost their title odds once again.