How Mavericks must immediately adjust after concerning Anthony Davis injury update
Yesterday at 10:21 PM
The city of Dallas was left in shock after the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Mavs did acquire Anthony Davis as part of the deal, though. When healthy, Davis is one of the best big men in the NBA. Injuries have been a problem for him over the years, however.
On Saturday, Davis suffered an apparent injury following a strong start to his Mavs career. Saturday represented Davis’ Mavericks debut, and he recorded 26 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists. He exited the game in the fourth quarter with an apparent leg injury, though, and it was later revealed that Davis was dealing with an adductor strain.
He told reporters after Saturday’s game that he was not worried about the issue. On Sunday night, though, a report surfaced that suggested Davis could miss a significant amount of time. According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Davis is expected to miss “multiple weeks” with the adductor injury, and he could even end up not playing for a full month.
So with Doncic in Los Angeles and Davis out for the foreseeable future, how can the Mavs adjust? After all, the team is currently in eighth place in the Western Conference standings with a 28-25 record. There are three teams behind the Mavs that trail Dallas by only one and a half games in the standings as well.
In other words, the Mavericks cannot afford to go through a slump as the season winds down. Otherwise, there will be a realistic chance of the team failing to reach the play-in tournament.
Mavericks must adjust following Anthony Davis injury
Jason Kidd is in a difficult position. The Mavs’ former best player is on a new team and the Mavs’ current best player is injured. Kyrie Irving is a star, but Dallas needs to utilize a complete team effort. It needs to be remembered that Dereck Lively II, Dwight Powell and Caleb Martin are all out with injuries right now as well.
PJ Washington will be a candidate to start at the power forward position, but he suffered an ankle injury on Saturday and is questionable for Monday’s game. If Washington is forced to miss time, Dallas’ only reliable big will be Daniel Gafford. The only other healthy big on the roster is Kylor Kelley, but he’s only played in parts of a few NBA games.
Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson and Daniel Gafford are guaranteed to start right now amid the injury situation the team is dealing with. Spencer Dinwiddie may move back to the starting rotation as well. If Washington is able to avoid missing time, he will take over at power forward amid Davis’ injury. If not, the Mavs will be forced to turn to an extreme small-ball lineup and Kessler Edwards or Naji Marshall could end up drawing the start.
The hope is that Washington will be able to avoid missing a significant amount of time. We should receive further updates on his injury status before Monday’s game against the Sacramento Kings.
With the trade deadline already passed, Dallas doesn’t have many external options to help replace Davis. They could try to reach out in the buyout market, but their current financial situation would make that difficult. They would likely need to wait to sign a veteran to a minimum contract.
For now, as Jason Kidd has said all season, the Mavericks will lean on the “next man up” mentality. Given the injuries, however, it is not certain who will be the next man up.
The post How Mavericks must immediately adjust after concerning Anthony Davis injury update appeared first on ClutchPoints.
