The Dallas Mavericks are definitely lucky enough to have themselves in this position when the 2024-25 season actually begins as they are set to miss the services of Luka Doncic for a week entering the preseason action as he suffered a left calf contusion during the team’s workouts and will have to sit out some games in the first week of the preseason before being re-evaluated further.

This means that Luka will not be playing in their preseason slate’s opener at home against the Memphis Grizzlies, which was expected to be a good test of their overall level of play considering that the Western Conference squad is set to flex a new season with a promising squad that seeks to return to the NBA Finals after a disappointing finish.

With Doncic out, however, it seems that the Mavericks will get the chance to field its new players and rotation with the likes of Klay Thompson, Quentin Grimes, and Naji Marshall. Fans will also have to wait if the re-evaluation of Doncic’s status will see him start the actual games of the 2024-25 season or miss a few games at the very least.

An Injury at the Half-Right Time

Doncic has been prone to injury for so many years, and their recent Western Conference Semis series against the Oklahoma City Thunder definitely revealed a lot of those with their harsh defense – hampering Doncic’s overall performance before the Mavs barely escaped the series with a lucky win in Game 6.

From a right knee sprain, ankle soreness, and many more injuries, all of these seemed to be gone in a blink of an eye as he went on to play superbly in their Western Conference Finals series against the Minnesota Timberwolves before losing to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.

So far, this injury proved to be quite a blessing in disguise for the Mavericks, who will have Doncic out of the first week of preseason games rather than the actual season, where games won and lost actually matter. This also gives them time to know more about the extent of the star guard’s injury and what steps they can take to consider in helping Doncic recover throughout the season and not aggravate it further.

MVP Season Loading?

Doncic finished third in MVP voting last season behind winner Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder) – both of which fell in the semis whilst Doncic made it to the NBA Finals. So far, this season is expected to be Doncic’s redemption season after not making a splash in the Finals, where he hopes to improve on what he’s started last season.

If there is something to improve.

Doncic had a monster campaign last season – averaging 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 9.8 assists per game. He shot 48.7% overall and knocked down 38.2% of his shots from deep. He played in a total of 70 games – the most he’s had since his rookie season and ended up being selected for the All-NBA First Team. At this point, if he’s going to improve from that season, it just means that he is definitely aiming to make the most of his chances and prove that he deserves to be named MVP now more than ever.

That all remains to be seen. For now, Doncic will have to focus on getting better and making sure that he’s available for most of the Mavericks’ games. After all, he hasn’t played a full season in his career – which says a lot about his consistent health in the game.