As if Dallas Mavericks fans could stomach any more bad news this season, the team’s injury woes have officially reached a point where they could result in the forfeiture of games.
After Dante Exum suffered a broken hand the will rule him out indefinitely — adding to a rash of injuries that includes Kyrie Irving (knee), Anthony Davis (adductor), Dereck Lively II (ankle), Daniel Gafford (knee), Jaden Hardy (ankle) and Caleb Martin (hip) — ESPN’s Bobby Marks shared the potential impact the Mavs’ missing players could have on the organization’s potential to field a roster down the stretch.
Dallas’ two-way players are coming up on their 50-game threshold and nine days from now the team could reportedly find itself in a serious bind.
“If we get to March 24 which is the Brooklyn game or maybe if there’s more injuries that are coming, the Mavericks could be at a point where they’d have to forfeit a game,” Marks explained. “I’m not ready to go there yet because we’ve never seen that happen before.”
The Mavericks are also hampered by cap-related issues under the NBA’s new CBA, but there’s a way they could potentially finesse their way out of the situation they’re currently in.
According to Marks, the franchise could get around a forfeit by having injured players dress for a game but not play. Although that would require some lying on their part to get some of their guys off the injury report.
Dallas’ season has gone into a tailspin since dealing Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers — and at this point it’s hard to get excited about anything Nico Harrison and the franchise’s ownership have their hands in moving forward.
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