It may only be the preseason, but the Dallas Mavericks are already wading through the injury waters. A few players have yet to even play in a preseason game.
The preseason finale for the Mavericks will be on Friday against the Atlanta Hawks in the American Airlines Center, which coach Dusty May is hoping will be a dress rehearsal, but it's hard to have that without key depth pieces.
Morez Johnson Jr. started the first preseason game against the Houston Rockets in Macau, but only played 12 minutes and hasn't played since. He was a little limited in training camp due to a lower-leg injury, but there wasn't much clarity beyond that.
Coach May helped fill in the gaps on Thursday by saying that Johnson is close to returning, but that he's been dealing with some shin splints. This comes after he was dealing with some calf soreness in the Summer League, and having a big deal with two lower-leg injuries certainly isn't ideal.
The Mavericks selected Johnson with the 9th overall pick of the most recent draft, with hopes that he could become the ultimate versatile defender as a forward. That's a hard thing to do when he hasn't been able to participate much.
Santi Aldama Also Close to Returning
The Mavericks acquired Santi Aldama in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies, knowing he had a procedure on his knee back in March.
Because of that, we've yet to see Aldama suit up. He was also limited in training camp and hasn't played in any of the preseason games.
Coach May said on Thursday that Aldama is getting "much, much closer" to playing, but doesn't expect that to be in tomorrow's preseason finale, even if they hope that he'll be ready for next week's season opener.
Aldama would give them some much-needed floor spacing in the frontcourt. While Daniel Gafford has started to show the ability to hit threes, that doesn't compare to a legitimate shooter like Aldama.
Teams will continue to leave Gafford open until he's a proven commodity, and that shouldn't be the case for Aldama.
These two injuries come with Dereck Lively II still recovering from foot surgery in December. There has been no timetable provided for his return yet, as the Mavericks are being extremely cautious with it.
Still, that leaves three players in the frontcourt with injuries right now, and while they have a lot of depth, it would still be nice for them to play.
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