The Dallas Mavericks have gotten off to a horrible start in their new era after trading Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis and Max Christie. Davis made his Mavericks debut in an emphatic showing against the Houston Rockets where he left the game in the third quarter with a groin injury.
It’s now been confirmed that Davis is expected to be injured for the foreseeable future, with Marc Stein deeming the return timetable as indefinite.
“It is feared that the Mavericks’ newly acquired Anthony Davis will be sidelined for an indefinite period … with the severity of his adductor injury sustained Saturday still being determined, league sources tell @TheSteinLine.”
Shams Charania has also reported on it, calling it a multiple-week absence that could last a month.
“Dallas Mavericks star Anthony Davis is expected to miss multiple weeks with a left adductor strain, sources tell ESPN. His absence could stretch to a month.”
This is going from bad to worse for the Mavericks. The fans have to reconcile with losing a 25-year-old superstar who the franchise thought was too injury-prone for a 31-year-old star who has a career’s worth of games proving he’s injury-prone.
If Davis misses 10+ games over the next month, it’ll be his seventh double-digit game absence over the last seven seasons. Luka Doncic has only one stretch of missed games this long since being drafted into the NBA, with the stretch coming with his calf injury this season.
Davis’ talent on the court is undeniable, and he turned boos from angry Mavs fans into cheers with his performance in his debut against the Houston Rockets. He put up 26 points (10-18 FG), 16 rebounds, seven assists, and three blocks in 31 minutes of action. The Mavericks won 116-105, temporarily giving the fans something to root for before this news sidetracks them again.
This could be an enormous blow to the Mavericks returning to the Playoffs to try and defend their Western Conference crown. Davis was expected to be a win-now addition who would help them win the title immediately. Unfortunately, he might not be in a position to help them if the team falls outside the top 10 of the West.
They’re currently the No. 8 seed with a 28-25 record but are only 1.5 games ahead of the No. 11 seed Warriors. Teams below them made major adjustments to their roster as well, but their newly-acquired stars like Jimmy Butler on the Warriors, De’Aaron Fox on the Spurs, and Zach LaVine on the Kings are healthy and available right now.
This is the worst-case scenario for the Mavericks. Their Playoff push could stay alive until Davis returns in mid-March, but it will overly tax Kyrie Irving, who has averaged 23.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists over the last five games. This is an ugly outcome and the franchise might wind up in the lottery if their poor luck continues.
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