The Dallas Mavericks’ path back to the postseason isn’t too hard to imagine. Between the addition of DeAndre Jordan in free agency and Luka Doncic in the 2018 NBA Draft, along with the hopes that Dennis Smith Jr. can take a step forward during his sophomore campaign, there are justifiable reasons for optimism in Dallas.
All of this will happen amid what could be Dirk Nowitzki’s final year in the NBA. The veteran big man isn’t the MVP-caliber player he was earlier in his career, but he’s still an effective shooter, even if it’s off the bench. Nowitzki is also about to make NBA history, as he will become the first player to play for the same team for 21 years when he takes the floor this season.
The issue is Nowitzki might not make it onto the floor right away. The Mavericks are in China for a pair of games against the Philadelphia 76ers, and while speaking to the media, Rick Carlisle made it clear that offseason ankle surgery might delay when we see Nowitzki’s season debut.
“This is weeks, not days, as far as getting on the court for live action,” Carlisle said, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “He is making gradual progress, but we’re not just at a point where we can talk about a hard timeline or anything like that.”
Nowitzki still has not practiced after undergoing surgery, and while Carlisle admitted that he won’t need to do a ton to get up to speed once his ankle is ready to go, the type of progress Nowitzki is making isn’t the type of progress that gets him to that point.
“He’s making gradual progress,” Carlisle said. “We need to have him make some real significant progress, get him on the court, and then we can talk about it.”
The Mavericks can afford to be patient with Nowitzki, because it’s not like he has to spend a ton of time learning what Dallas wants to do on either end of the floor. Still, based on what Carlisle has to say, it sounds like it’d be something of a surprise if Nowitzki’s season debut occurs when the Mavericks kick off their season against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 17.
(Via ESPN)
