Dallas Mavericks lose Luka Doncic for even longer

The Dallas Mavericks have already been without Luka Doncic for five games. With news that Doncic is now entering the NBA’s COVID health and safety protocol, that number just got higher.

The news couldn’t have come at a worse time. The Mavs are already without a handful of players for the same COVID protocol reasons. Against Minnesota were missing five of their top eight scorers. They had to pull from the G-league to roster a team.

Doncic, recovering from an ankle injury, was expected back to enter day-to-day territory right about now. But that plan gets shelved since he’s been placed in protocols. Dallas is facing off against Milwaukee on Thursday and will have to get extremely creative in their roster design. Lucky for the Mavs, the Bucks are littered with protocol players as well. At last update they were without four players themselves. Including superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Dallas Mavericks didn’t get great news regarding Luka Doncic’s comeback date.

Most reports pegged Luka to be back on Thursday so the timing of this isn’t exactly ideal. With outbreaks across the league the NBA is trying it’s best to adapt to this situation. So the Mavs are fortunate not to be alone in this particular cluster fudge.

Luka Doncic and Trey Burke are two new cases. Mavs announced they have entered protocols. Doncic was hopeful to return Thursday vs. Bucks after missing last five games due to left ankle soreness. Burke is lone unvaccinated player on the roster. https://t.co/F1xWk5AwvM
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 22, 2021

Joining Doncic on the COVID protocol health and safety list is Trey Burke, the Dallas Mavericks only unvaccinated player. It’s unknown how long either player will be out since they’re relatively new additions. It’s also unconfirmed at this time whether they are symptomatic or not.

As the timetable unfolds regarding Doncic and the others, we’ll be able to predict what exactly the front office plans to do to get by. But a simple back of the napkin numbers crunch shows this team cant handle much more because they are already barebones as it is.

For now, Jalen Brunson and Dorian Finney-Smith will have to do the heavy lifting. Both players had strong efforts in the Mavs win over Minnesota last night and both are capable scorers in a variety of ways.