Dallas Mavericks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Monday’s Mavericks/Pelicans Game Postponed

January 11th, 2021 at 1:13pm CST by Luke Adams

1:13pm: The Mavericks may have had enough players to meet the required minimum tonight, but the league chose to postpone the game in order to continue contact tracing and “to ensure the health and safety of players, coaches and other personnel,” VP of basketball communications Scott Tomlin told Caplan. The contact tracing process is ongoing, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

11:45am: The NBA is postponing Monday’s game between the Mavericks and Pelicans due to issues related to COVID-19, according to Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that the Mavs don’t have the required minimum of eight players available.

It’s the fourth game this season that has been postponed, including the third in two days. The Sunday contest between the Heat and Celtics was also postponed, as was Tuesday’s game between the Celtics and Bulls. Before Sunday, all games since December 23 had been played.

Mavericks veterans Josh Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Jalen Brunson were self-isolating as of Friday, and Maxi Kleber joined that list over the weekend. Tim MacMahon of ESPN said on Sunday night (via Twitter) that Dallas wasn’t expected to lose any more players to contact tracing, but it seems that’s no longer the case.

According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), ongoing contact tracing will leave Dallas with fewer than eight players available tonight, despite the imminent return of Kristaps Porzingis. As MacMahon tweets, that suggests that at least five more Mavericks entered the protocols today.

Kristaps Porzingis Set To Make Season Debut

January 11th, 2021 at 11:06am CST by Luke Adams

[UPDATE: Monday’s Mavericks/Pelicans game has been postponed.]

Barring a last-minute setback, Mavericks big man Kristaps Porzingis is poised to make his season debut on Monday night against the Pelicans, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Porzingis, who underwent surgery in October to repair the meniscus in his right knee, spent the offseason recovering from and rehabbing that injury, but wasn’t quite ready to go when the regular season got underway last month.

The 25-year-old had been a full participant in practice for the last two weeks as he worked on getting back up to game speed, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Over the weekend, he was upgraded to questionable for Monday’s game.

Porzingis’ return should provide a shot in the arm to a Mavericks team that is missing multiple players due to the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols. After a slow start, Dallas has won its last three games to push its record above .500 (5-4).

Although he has battled health issues throughout his NBA career, Porzingis has been a standout contributor when he’s on the court. In his first full season in Dallas in 2019/20, he averaged 20.4 PPG, 9.5 RPG, and 2.0 BPG in 57 games (31.8 MPG).

Maxi Kleber To Miss Time Due To COVID-19 Protocols

January 10th, 2021 at 11:15am CST by Arthur Hill

11:15am: The Mavericks have closed their practice facility after a second positive COVID-19 test in three days, sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). He adds that Kleber began self-isolation this morning.

10:48am: Mavericks forward Maxi Kleber is the latest player to be placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, which will keep him out of action for 10 to 14 days, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

A league source confirms the report to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link), but says the exact amount of time Kleber will have to be isolated remains unclear.

Kleber becomes the fourth player on Dallas’ roster to be sidelined for coronavirus-related reasons. Josh Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Jalen Brunson were all placed under quarantine earlier this week. One of those players reportedly tested positive for the virus, while the other two are in contact tracing.

Kleber, now in his fourth NBA season, has been a valuable part of the Mavericks’ rotation. He is averaging 7.4 points and 5.3 rebounds through nine games, while making three starts.

Texas Notes: Iwundu, Wall, White, Hammon

January 9th, 2021 at 6:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Mavericks‘ quarantine issues could give Wesley Iwundu his first real opportunity since joining the team as a free agent last month, writes Eddie Sefko of NBA.com. Dallas is playing without Josh Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Jalen Brunson, who are all out of action for at least a week.

Iwundu has gotten into four games so far, but is averaging just 5.0 minutes per night. He spent his first three seasons with the Magic before getting an offer from the Mavericks.

“Coming to Dallas, the focus on winning is higher,” Iwundu said. “You have a better team, better players and it’s just something you got to come in with that mindset that you want to get better each and every day.”

There’s more from the Lone Star State:

John Wall believes the Rockets‘ bench can be among the best in the league, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Wall often plays alongside the reserves, who are shooting 50% from the field, which is the best among NBA bench units. “I know I can score the ball,” Wall said. “At the same time, I can put pressure on the defense pushing the pace, running pick-and-rolls. And I can find my shooters, guys like Eric Gordon, Ben McLemore, DeMarcus (Cousins) out there, Jae’Sean Tate, Sterling Brown, (David) Nwaba. I have guys that can make shots.”
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich expects guard Derrick White to miss four to six weeks with a fractured toe, tweets Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. White had surgery on the toe in August and was sidelined through the first four games of the regular season. He reinjured it on New Year’s Day.
Popovich confirmed that assistant coach Becky Hammon is one of the Spurs‘ staff members not with the team because of health and safety protocols (Twitter link from Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News). Two staffers and reserve big man Drew Eubanks have been required to quarantine.

Porzingis Could Return In A Week

January 9th, 2021 at 1:48pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle has suggested that starting center Kristaps Porzingis could be close to his return for Dallas, Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News tweets. Carlisle indicated that Porzingis could return approximately a week from now “if all things continue to go well.”

Mavs’ Richardson, Finney-Smith, Brunson Placed Under Quarantine

January 8th, 2021 at 7:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

7:39pm: Josh Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Jalen Brunson are the players under quarantine, Charania tweets.

5:11pm: A Mavericks player has tested positive for the coronavirus and two other players have been placed under quarantine for seven days due to contract tracing, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

A source within the organization confirmed Charania’s report, Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News tweets.

The other two players have thus far tested negative and are expected to remain so, according to Charania, but the trio remained in Denver while the rest of the team flew back to Dallas. The Mavericks wrapped up a three-game trip in Denver on Thursday.

The names of the players haven’t been revealed but there will be more clarity when the team issues an injury report prior to its next game. The Mavericks have a home game against Orlando on Saturday.

In recent days, the Celtics and Sixers have revealed COVID-19 issues. Boston’s Robert Williams had a positive test and two others were deemed close contacts. Philadelphia is expected to be without numerous players due to contact tracing after Seth Curry tested positive.

And-Ones: Johnson, Martin, COVID-19 Protocols, Bender

January 1st, 2021 at 8:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks forward James Johnson and Hornets forwards Cody Martin and Caleb Martin have been fined for their roles in an on-court altercation on Wednesday, according to an NBA press release.

Johnson, who was ejected, was fined $40K for deliberately pushing Cody Martin out of bounds, aggressively confronting him, and initiating the incident. Cody, who was also ejected, was fined $25K for pushing Johnson in retaliation and making contact with a game official. Caleb Martin was fined $20K for entering the altercation and making contact with a game official.

We have more from around the basketball world:

The NBA is planning to require players and many team staffers to wear sensor devices during all team-organized activities outside of games starting January 7, according to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes. The plan is aimed on improving its contact tracing program. Players and specific staff members, such as coaches, will be required to wear Kinexon SafeZone contact sensor devices on the team plane, the team bus, during practices and while traveling to and from the arena or their home practice facility.
The league is placing more responsibility on team officials to monitor and mete out discipline for COVID-19 protocol violations among players and staff, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. The NBA told teams that they’re required to notify the league office of any discipline imposed. The league office still holds the power to override team decisions on player punishments.
Maccabi Tel Aviv has extended the contract of former NBA big man Dragan Bender for the remainder of the season, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando writes. Bender signed with the Israeli team in September. Bender played seven games with the Bucks last season before being waived in February. He joined the Warriors on a pair of 10-day deals and averaged 9.0 PPG and 5.9 RPG in nine games before the hiatus began.

Richardson: "Surreal" To Be Part Of Jimmy Butler Trade

January 1st, 2021 at 9:04am CST by Arthur Hill

Mavericks guard Josh Richardson patterned his game after Jimmy Butler and can’t believe he was involved in the trade that brought Butler to Miami, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. “I really like Jimmy Butler a lot. Especially when he was rising in Chicago, I was a big fan,” Richardson said. “… And it was crazy like actually being in a Jimmy Butler trade. It was kind of like surreal, because he was one of my favorite players and I was getting traded for him. And that was like a really interesting thing for me.”

Doncic Hoping To Pull Through Slump

December 31st, 2020 at 9:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Mavericks All-Star guard Luka Doncic is hoping to get out of a bumpy offensive start to his third NBA season, according to Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News. He had one of worst scoring performances as a pro on Wednesday, scoring just 12 points against the Hornets in a 118-99 loss. “Obviously I’ve got to do way better,” Doncic said. “I can still prove so much, so I’ve got to work on those shots every day and if you work on it, they’re going to fall in eventually, so that’s my point of view.” Doncic has gone cold from long distance this season, connecting on just 9.5% of his 5.3 three-point attempts a night.

Richardson Was "Awkward" Fit In Philadelphia, Happy To Be With Mavs

December 31st, 2020 at 10:20am CST by Luke Adams

One of Josh Richardson‘s agents, Bill Duffy, tells Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News that his client’s fit in Philadelphia last season was “awkward” and that he and fellow agent Erik Kabe asked the Sixers about exploring trade options this offseason. “Josh has an opt-out after this year,” Duffy said. “So Erik and I were pretty candid with Philly that it was pretty unlikely he’d return, ‘so maybe you should have discussions.'” The Mavericks were Richardson’s preferred landing spot, and Dallas and Philadelphia were able to work out a deal that Duffy views as a “win-win.”