The Dallas Mavericks’ fortunes don’t seem to be getting any better as the Mark Cuban-owned ballclub may have to deal with a big adjustment with reports that two stars are questionable when the team opens its campaign for the 2015-16 NBA wars.
First off is new recruit Wesley Matthews. It will be recalled that Matthews suffered a ruptured Achilles back in March while he was still donning the Portland Trailblazers jersey and hopes were high that he could return by the season opener which starts in about a month’s time.
Matthews hooked up with the Mavericks in the offseason, signing a four-year deal worth $70 million. The original deal called for Matthews to be paid $57 million but since the celebrated DeAndre Jordan turnaround, the Mavs decided to raise his pay by $13 million.
Las month, Matthews showed optimism that he would be ready by the time the Mavericks opened their campaign. At that time, Matthews had been doing some shooting and dribbling though his basketball activities were still limited.
But the latest development shows that Matthews may not be totally ready after all. In fact, head coach Rick Carlisle says that the earliest Matthews can play would be by Christmas, something that is not a certainty.
"It could be sooner. It's hard to say. His court activity has been ramped up some. He will participate in certain aspects of training camp, but nothing live to start with" says Carlisle in an interview with The Dallas Morning News.
What about Chandler Parsons?
The case of Parsons seems to be different with Carlisle saying that the 26-year-old small forward could be ready by the season opener.
"Well, I would say that there's a chance that Parsons could play in the (season) opener," Carlisle said.
Parsons reportedly had a ‘minor hybrid’ microfracture operation which was done last May 1. The procedure required four-months to recover and checking on the timeline, Parsons should be back on the court as we speak. Right now, Parsons has not yet gotten the proper medical clearance, the reason why he may still be absent at training camp.
So the keyword for Matthews and Parsons is the ‘maybe’ part. They could play as scheduled, before or worse, after. But from the looks of it, the Mavs don’t intend to rush both to rejoin the team.
With the Mavericks’ season not looking so hot owing to their patched up roster, it would be safe to say that the team will be unpredictable. They can spring some surprises with their roster or then maybe not. Whatever the case may be, the worst thing they can do right now is rush two key players from sick bay and play the season with an irregular lineup.
Seeing how the Western Conference has shaped up, it remains to be seen how far the Mavs can go. Right now, a playoff spot could be the conservative target but even that may be easier said than done when compared to the other powers in the NBA Western conference.