20 hours Ago
The Dallas Mavericks traded for Anthony Davis with the idea to be bigger than anyone else. The plan was to slide P.J.
Washington to small forward, play Davis at power forward and start either Daniel Gafford or Dereck Lively II at center. Health permitted them to do this for one game. Roughly three quarters, actually.
Advertisement The Mavericks looked like a ferocious defensive team in their Feb. 8 win over the Houston Rockets , but Davis’ early exit with a left adductor strain overshadowed an afternoon in which Dallas recorded a franchise-record 18 blocks. On Thursday, the Mavericks said that while Davis was making “good progress” from injury, he will be sidelined for at least the next two weeks.
That means the Mavericks will be missing their top three big men for the next seven games. Anthony Davis injury update: Anthony Davis, who suffered a left adductor strain on Feb. 8 against Houston, is making good progress.
Davis will be re-evaluated in two weeks. Get well soon, AD 🙏 #MFFL pic.twitter.
com/SZS46zOlZ8 — Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) February 20, 2025 Lively, who last played Jan. 14, is working his way back from a stress fracture in his right ankle. Gafford suffered a sprained MCL in his right knee on Feb.
10 and is expected to miss several weeks. “I’d say our goals are still obtainable,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said Thursday, as the Mavericks prepare to host the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday. “It’s a matter of, ‘Can we get healthy?’ But we are going to take it one game at a time.
We are not looking past New Orleans. We have to find a way to win.” Davis missed five games with an abdominal strain before he made his Dallas debut.
When asked if Davis would need surgery, Kidd said doctors would have more clarity in two weeks. “Right now, he’s doing great,” Kidd said. “He’s in the weight room.
He was shooting on the court. A lot of positive things for him. I don’t know if that means surgery, but I think we are all excited to see him back to work.
” The Mavericks’ injury problems have been so severe, they have been forced to sign two emergency centers in the past month. Kylor Kelley joined on a two-contract in January. The 27-year-old had never appeared in an NBA game before Kidd inserted him into the lineup in garbage time of Dallas’ blowout win against the Washington Wizards on Jan.
27. Kelley has played a total of 60 minutes across seven games. On Thursday, the Mavericks announced the signing of Moses Brown to a 10-day contract.
Brown is back for his second stint in Dallas. He played 26 games with the team during the 2021-22 season. The 7-foot-2 center most recently was with the Westchester Knicks in the G League.
Brown, who averaged 15.6 points and 14.9 rebounds with Westchester, will be available for Dallas’ next four games.
After that, Dallas’ options to sign another center are limited. Brown’s 10-day deal put the team roughly $50,000 below the first apron amount of $178.1 million, which the Mavericks aren’t permitted to exceed.
Advertisement “They are definitely happy to have me here,” Brown said. “It’s really up to me. I can control my energy, my output, my effort.
I can maximize my opportunity by doing those three things.” In the Mavericks’ last game before the All-Star break, two-way player Kessler Edwards got the start at center. Edwards played larger than his listed height of 6-foot-8 against 7-foot Miami Heat rookie Kel’el Ware, scoring 15 points and grabbing nine rebounds in 40 minutes of action and also finishing one rebound shy of his second career double-double.
If Dwight Powell is unable to play Friday against the Pelicans, the Mavericks may ask Edwards to man the middle again. Powell, who has missed Dallas’ last 14 games with a right hip strain, is officially listed as doubtful. Meanwhile, Washington is listed as questionable.
Washington sprained his right ankle on Feb. 10 and was able to go through a full practice Thursday. Washington played about one-quarter of his minutes as a small-ball center with the Charlotte Hornets before coming to Dallas via trade about a year ago.
Despite the myriad injury issues, the Mavericks won four of five games before the All-Star break . Kyrie Irving scored 42 points in the team’s Feb. 12 home win over the Golden State Warriors.
The next night, the Mavericks rested Irving but still beat the Heat with only nine available players. With a 30-26 record, the Mavericks are in eighth place in the Western Conference entering the stretch run of the season. “I think the break was at a good time, mentally and probably physically,” Kidd said.
“But I thought the team was playing hard and extremely well. Sometimes when you’re playing well, you want to keep it going. I think overall, the break was good for everybody to get some rest and recharge for the next 26 games.
” The Mavericks only got to see the trio of Washington, Davis and Gafford play together for 17 minutes before injuries forced them to abandon the jumbo-sized look. It’s unclear when they will share the court again this season. The Mavericks must get through the next two weeks — at least — before they can play the way they envisioned when they traded for Davis.
“The 2 1/2 quarters, that was cool to see,” Kidd said. “If it’s anything like that, I think we are all excited.” (Photo: Jerome Miron / Imagn Images).
