Maxi Kleber Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Mavs’ Doncic Out With Heel Injury, Wood Nearing Return

February 3rd, 2023 at 3:57pm CST by Luke Adams

Just days after returning from an ankle sprain that sidelined him for a game, Mavericks star Luka Doncic has been ruled out for Saturday’s contest in Golden State after sustaining a right heel contusion, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.

The injury occurred in the third quarter of Dallas’ Thursday win over New Orleans when Doncic drove to the basket for a layup and collided awkwardly with Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas, landing hard on his right heel (video link).

Although Doncic didn’t travel with the Mavericks for the start of their five-game road trip and won’t play on Saturday, head coach Jason Kidd told reporters on Friday that the four-time All-Star wasn’t being ruled out for the entire trip.

“It’s too soon today to give an update on that,” Kidd said, per MacMahon. “As we get the MRI, we’ll be able to give an update on status.”

Like Doncic, Davis Bertans (left calf strain) has been ruled out for Saturday’s game and didn’t accompany the Mavs for the road trip, but the team did have a pair of positive health updates on Friday.

Big man Christian Wood, who has been on the shelf due to a fractured left thumb, went through a full practice on Friday for the first time since suffering the injury and said he’ll be “ready to go” after a bit more conditioning work. He won’t play on Saturday, but believes he’ll be cleared to play on Monday in Utah or in Wednesday in L.A. against the Clippers.

Meanwhile, forward Maxi Kleber has progressed to 1-on-1 workouts as of Friday, according to Kidd (link via Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News). Kleber underwent surgery on December 20 to repair a torn hamstring and has expressed hope that he’ll be able to return at some point this month.

Injury Notes: Ball, Kleber, Wade, Okeke, Okogie

January 19th, 2023 at 12:32pm CST by Rory Maher

Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball suffered his third left ankle sprain this season in yesterday’s victory over Houston. Ball and teammate P.J. Washington were contesting a layup by Jabari Smith Jr. when Washington landed on Ball’s ankle (YouTube link via ESPN).

While the injury certainly looked painful, the 21-year-old sounds fairly confident he won’t miss as much time as he did with his previous sprains, which sidelined him for 13 and 11 games, respectively.

“It feels a little bit better,” Ball said, per Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. “It doesn’t feel like those other ones. … I can walk, so take it day-by-day and see what it is.”

Boone writes that the young All-Star didn’t require an X-Ray or other tests to determine the severity of the injury.

Here are some more injury notes from around the NBA:

Maxi Kleber, who underwent surgery on December 20 to repair a torn hamstring, says he’s targeting a return to the Mavericks‘ lineup next month, though he isn’t committed to that timeline (Twitter video link via Bally Sports Southwest). “I’m not out for the season,” the German big man said. “I can’t give an exact date, but I hope I’m gonna be back… preferably before All-Star break, but I don’t want to jinx anything or say anything or make promises. … But that’s the goal.”
Cavaliers forward Dean Wade, who has been sidelined since December 2 due to a shoulder ailment, suffered a setback in his rehab process earlier this month, injuring his ankle when he stepped on a player’s foot during practice, a source tells Kelsey Russo of The Athletic. “He’s not (doing) five-on-five yet,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said on Tuesday. “Again, because of where he was before, it won’t need as much to get him back to going because it wasn’t as big of a setback.”
The return of Magic forward Chuma Okeke isn’t imminent, according to Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel (subscriber link). Okeke has yet to resume contact work after undergoing a procedure on his left knee in December. Price adds within the same story that forward Jonathan Isaac is expected to play in a third G League game for the Lakeland Magic on Thursday as he makes his way back from an ACL injury.
Suns wing Josh Okogie broke his nose in Monday’s game in Memphis when he took an inadvertent elbow from teammate Deandre Ayton, tweets Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Okogie is listed as out for Thursday — it’s unclear how much additional time he might miss.

Luke Adams contributed to this story.

Maxi Kleber Has Surgery For Hamstring Tear

December 20th, 2022 at 11:47am CST by Arthur Hill

Mavericks forward Maxi Kleber underwent surgery Tuesday for a torn right hamstring, the team announced (via Twitter). Kleber suffered the injury at a practice last week.

Rehab is set to begin immediately, and no timetable has been set for him to return.

The average recovery time for a player who suffers a hamstring tear is about 62 days, according to Jeff Stotts of InStreetClothes.com (Twitter link). However, the average recovery time dips to 38 days in cases where surgery isn’t required, so Kleber could certainly be sidelined for more than two months.

As Stotts adds (via Twitter), Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd compared Kleber’s injury to one Khris Middleton suffered in 2016. Middleton returned to action 133 days (over four months) after undergoing surgery on his torn hamstring.

Dallas is just 2-8 this season in games that Kleber has missed, so a prolonged absence is an unfortunate break for a team locked in a tight battle for a playoff spot. The German forward is averaging 6.2 points and 3.5 rebounds through 22 games.

Mavs Injury Notes: Doncic, Dinwiddie, Green, Kleber, Powell

December 17th, 2022 at 1:38pm CST by Rory Maher

The Mavericks will be without Luka Doncic (right quad strain), Spencer Dinwiddie (right knee, injury recovery), Josh Green (right elbow sprain), Maxi Kleber (right hamstring tear) and Dwight Powell (left thigh contusion) on Saturday in Cleveland, the team announced (via Twitter).

As ESPN’s Tim MacMahon tweets, Saturday will mark Doncic’s third missed game of the 2022/23 season, all on the second game of a back-to-back — Dallas defeated Portland last night. MacMahon points out that fans will surely be disappointed with the Slovenian star’s absence, as Cleveland has the largest Slovenian population in the U.S.

The Mavs are almost certainly just being cautious with Doncic and fellow starting guard Dinwiddie, who will miss his first game of the season.

With three starters and two primary backups out, reserves such as Frank Ntilikina, Kemba Walker, Jaden Hardy, JaVale McGee and Christian Wood should see a significant uptick in minutes against the Cavaliers.

Here are some more notes on the Mavs’ injured players:

Head coach Jason Kidd told reporters, including Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link), that Green will travel on the teams week-long road trip that ends on Friday in Houston. Kidd said he’s hopeful Green has made strides in his recovery, but he won’t play in a game until he’s at least a full practice participant.
Kidd called Kleber’s torn hamstring a “freak injury” that occurred when his knee hyperextended while dribbling in Tuesday’s practice, Caplan tweets. No contact took place during the incident. The team plans to provide an update on Kleber’s recovery “pretty soon,” according to Kidd. As MacMahon relays (via Twitter), Kidd also said that Kleber’s injury was the same as Khris Middleton‘s back in 2016 — Middleton required surgery and missed 141 days, according to Jeff Stotts of InStreetClothes.com (Twitter link). MacMahon says it isn’t certain that Kleber will require surgery, but called it a “strong possibility.” If so, there’s a chance the German big man could be out for the season, based on Middleton’s recovery timeline.
Powell sustained his left thigh contusion in last night’s blowout home victory over the Blazers, the Mavs announced (via Twitter). The starting center was limited to 11 minutes of action before exiting the contest. It’s unclear how much time he might miss beyond Saturday’s game.

Mavericks’ Maxi Kleber Tears Right Hamstring, Out Indefinitely

December 15th, 2022 at 11:31am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Mavericks forward Maxi Kleber tore his right hamstring at a team practice Tuesday, Dallas has announced (via Twitter).

The extent of the damage to the ligament had previously not been known, and the ailment had first been diagnosed as a sprain, but clearly further analysis has indicated that the outcome is more severe.

Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) initially reported that Kleber was expected to miss six-to-eight weeks, but Tim MacMahon of ESPN (via Twitter) suggests that treatment options, including surgery, are still being weighed, so it sounds like there’s no set timeline yet. The Mavericks have ruled the forward out indefinitely.

As Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News tweets, the Mavericks have gone just 1-5 in the six games Kleber has missed thus far this season. Reserve center Christian Wood seems to be in line for more minutes now, Townsend adds.

Across 25.6 MPG, the 6’10” Kleber had been averaging 6.2 PPG on .490/.369/.786 shooting splits in 22 games for Dallas. The 30-year-old also has chipped in 3.5 RPG, 1.0 APG and 1.0 BPG.

Losing Kleber for an extended period will be a major loss for the Mavs’ frontline. His relative mobility for his size and his ability to shoot triples at a solid clip (36.9% on 3.0 tries a night) made him a reliable bench option for the 14-14 club.

Southwest Notes: Lewis, Morant, Adams, Grizzlies, Kleber

December 14th, 2022 at 7:56pm CST by Rory Maher

Pelicans point guard Kira Lewis played in an NBA game for the first time in a little over a year in Tuesday’s loss to Utah, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com. The 21-year-old, who tore the ACL in his right knee last December, finished with four points and one rebound in six minutes.

“It’s been a long year,” Lewis said. “If anything, I have learned patience. With this leg, I couldn’t rush it or nothing. I just had to be patient and take it day by day. Here we are.”

The third-year guard added that the most challenging part of the rehabilitation process wasn’t physical.

“That’s probably the toughest, managing the mental,” he said. “Because you know you can’t play basketball. That’s something you have been doing your whole life. Just take it day by day. Talk to your people. And keep on moving. Use it as motivation.”

The Pelicans picked up Lewis’ fourth-year option for 2023/24, so he’ll earn a guaranteed $5,722,116 next year. Lewis, the No. 13 overall pick of the 2020 draft, will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in the offseason.

Here’s more from the Southwest:

Ja Morant and Steven Adams were both sidelined for the Grizzlies in Monday’s blowout victory over the shorthanded Hawks, but they were full participants in Wednesday’s practice and are “trending towards playing” on Thursday against Milwaukee, per Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). Morant is averaging career highs in points (27.7), rebounds (6.6) and assists (7.8), while Adams leads the NBA in offensive rebounds per game (4.8) for the second consecutive season.
The Grizzlies‘ bench has struggled to an extent this season, partly due to injuries, but Monday showed why the second unit has a lot of potential, Cole writes for The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Tyus Jones and Brandon Clarke and had productive games starting in place of Morant and Adams, and some little-used reserves also had strong outings. “We’re deep,” Xavier Tillman said. “It’s a real 15 deep. Nobody’s role is too extreme to where we need them to do more than they’re capable of.” Memphis is currently 18-9, tied with New Orleans for the best record in the West.
Head coach Jason Kidd told reporters on Wednesday that Mavericks big man Maxi Kleber suffered a hyperextended knee in Tuesday’s practice, which is why he was ruled out for Wednesday’s game against Cleveland, according to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). The Mavs are still evaluating Kleber’s condition to determine how much time he might miss.

Injury Updates: Tatum, Herro, Barnes, Langford, More

November 23rd, 2022 at 6:20pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics will have star forward Jayson Tatum on the court for tonight’s showdown with the Mavericks, according to Souichi Terada of MassLive.

Tatum was listed as questionable after hurting his left ankle in Monday’s game at Chicago, but coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters that he’ll be able to play without any limitations. Tatum appeared to be moving normally during shootaround, Terada observes.

Tatum is among the early favorites in the MVP race, averaging 30.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists while playing 37.2 minutes per game, the most in his career. He has led Boston to the best start in the league at 13-4.

There’s more injury-related news to pass along:

Tyler Herro will return for the Heat tonight after missing eight games with a sprained left ankle, the team announced (via Twitter). Max Strus was downgraded to out due to a shoulder injury, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).
Raptors forward Scottie Barnes will miss tonight’s game with a sprained left knee, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. Fred VanVleet is sidelined with an illness, so Toronto is down to 10 available players.
Spurs guard Romeo Langford has been cleared to return tonight after missing five games while in the health and safety protocols. Josh Richardson will miss the game after suffering a sprained ankle in Tuesday’s practice (Twitter link), and Zach Collins has been downgraded from probable to out as he recovers from a non-displaced fracture of his fibula (Twitter link). Coach Gregg Popovich sounded optimistic when asked if Collins is close to returning. “Yes, I guess is the answer,” he replied. “He’s just not ready yet. We thought he might be, but he’s not.” Popovich also refused to provide any details about the illness that forced him to miss Sunday’s game, telling reporters, “I’m fine,” Orsborn tweets.
Dean Wade, who missed the past six games with knee soreness, will come off the Cavaliers‘ bench tonight and will be on a minutes restriction, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link).
Nets forward Yuta Watanabe will be sidelined through at least Friday with a hamstring issue, tweets Nick Friedell of ESPN. An MRI taken Tuesday night confirmed the injury (Twitter link), but Watanabe doesn’t seem concerned. “It’s not that serious,” he said. “… It’s day to day. We’ll see how long it takes.” (Twitter link)
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd is optimistic that Maxi Kleber, who’s dealing with a lower back contusion, will be available Saturday or Sunday, tweets Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News.

Western Notes: George, Holmes, Fernando, Dinwiddie, Kleber, Popovich

November 21st, 2022 at 10:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Clippers star forward Paul George missed Monday’s game against Utah due to a right hamstring tendon strain, according to Law Murray of The Athletic.

It’s a different injury than the one the team cited when George sat out the second half of Saturday’s game against San Antonio. The reason given that night was right knee soreness.

George will be reevaluated in the next couple of days.

We have more from the Western Conference:

Richaun Holmes has fallen out of the Kings’ rotation and it may be difficult to move his contract, James Ham of The Kings Beat notes. Holmes is owed $11.2MM this season, $12MM next season and has a player option for $12.9MM in 2024/25.
Rockets coach Stephen Silas is optimistic Bruno Fernando can return to action later this week, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Fernando has only appeared in two games this season due to left knee soreness.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd expressed hope that Spencer Dinwiddie and Maxi Kleber will be available during the team’s upcoming road trip, Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News writes. Dinwiddie dislocated his left shoulder against Denver on Sunday, while Kleber hasn’t played since Tuesday due to a lower back contusion.
Gregg Popovich didn’t coach the Spurs on Sunday after meeting with the press prior to the game. Brett Brown filled in after Popovich felt ill, but doctors who examined him in the locker room pronounced him OK, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News tweets.

Mavericks Notes: Doncic, Dinwiddie, Wood, Kleber

November 21st, 2022 at 9:21am CST by Arthur Hill

Mavericks star Luka Doncic will represent Slovenia next summer at the FIBA World Cup, according to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. Doncic has become a regular in international competitions, so the news isn’t surprising, but it was made official by Basketball Federation of Slovenia president Matej Erjavec.

“Luka confirmed his participation a minute after the game with Germany, when it was certain that we would go to the championship,” Erjavec said in an interview with RTV, the country’s national public broadcaster. “To be very honest, we were actually 99% sure already after the game against Israel and even then, it was a great joy and a reassurance at the same time. If Luka is healthy, there is no fear at all.”

Doncic has played for the national team since 2017 when Slovenia won the gold medal at EuroBasket, and he was a standout at the most recent Olympics. The 32-team World Cup will take place from August 25 to September 10 in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.

“The club, led by coach Jason Kidd and owner Mark Cuban, approves of this approach,” Erjavec added. “They approve of his participation.”

There’s more from Dallas:

Spencer Dinwiddie dislocated his left shoulder late in Sunday’s game, but he doesn’t believe the injury is serious, writes Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News. Dinwiddie got hurt when Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. collided with him on a steal attempt. He collapsed to the court in pain and had to leave the game, but felt OK in the locker room, Caplan adds. “It just popped out,” Dinwiddie said. “It’s back in. It’s all good.”
After logging 17 minutes off the bench Sunday, including just 1:54 in the fourth quarter, Christian Wood expressed frustration about his inconsistent playing time, Caplan tweets. Wood, who expected to have a regular role after being acquired from the Rockets in an offseason trade, said the coaching staff doesn’t give him an indication each night about how many minutes to expect. “I would love to play more,” he said. “I’ve voiced that several times, but I just play my role.”
Maxi Kleber remains sidelined with a lower back contusion, but there’s optimism that he can return soon, tweets Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Kidd hopes Kleber can resume practicing on Tuesday and join the team for its upcoming road trip.

Contract Details: Steward, Kleber, Pickett, Vaudrin

September 9th, 2022 at 2:30pm CST by Luke Adams

DJ Steward‘s new deal with the Kings is a one-year, minimum-salary contract, but it doesn’t include Exhibit 10 language, Hoops Rumors has learned. It’s a standard contract that features a small partial guarantee worth $50K.

If Steward is eventually waived, he would still be eligible to play for the Stockton Kings, Sacramento’s G League affiliate, since his guarantee doesn’t exceed $50K. So the most tangible difference between Steward’s deal and an Exhibit 10 contract is that Sacramento won’t have the option of converting it into a two-way contract. The former Duke guard isn’t ineligible to sign a two-way deal with the Kings, but he would have to pass through waivers first.

Here are a few more contract details from around the NBA:

Maxi Kleber‘s new three-year extension with the Mavericks is fairly straightforward — it features $11,000,000 annual base salaries in each of the three seasons and doesn’t include any bonuses or options years. Kleber’s extension will begin in 2023/24.
The contracts signed with the Cavaliers by Jamorko Pickett and Chandler Vaudrin are Exhibit 10 deals, Hoops Rumors has learned. Both of Cleveland’s two-way slots are currently full, so Pickett and Vaudrin could end up becoming affiliate players for the Cleveland Charge, the Cavs’ G League team.
In case you missed it, we’re tracking each team’s players with partially guaranteed and non-guaranteed contracts, including Exhibit 10 deals, right here.