DALLAS — With two games remaining in the season, the Dallas Mavericks declared five players will miss Friday night's game against the Chicago Bulls.
Those players are: starters Kyrie Irving and Tim Hardaway Jr. and key reserves Josh Green, Maxi Kleber and Christian Wood. Luka Doncic (left thigh injury recovery) and JaVale McGee (right ankle sprain) remain probable for tonight’s game against the Bulls, according to the Mavs PR team.
The initial report sent out Friday morning had no players listed out, only Doncic, Irving and McGee as "probable." The updated injury report sent Friday afternoon added the five Mavericks players with "out" designations.
The injury news comes 48 hours after all five played in Wednesday's 123-119 win over the Sacramento Kings. Dallas' future seems to have the following trajectories: Finish with at least the 10-worst record in the NBA and keep their 2023 1st Round Draft pick (we'll get to this in a second) or make the play-in tournament.
Top-10 protected draft pick
The Dallas Mavericks' 2023 NBA Draft first round pick is top-10 protected. If the Mavs finish better than that, the pick goes to the New York Knicks as part of the 2019 trade that brought Kristaps Porzingis to Dallas.
As of Friday, April 7, Dallas is tied for the 10th-worst record in the NBA. Who are the Mavs tied with, you ask? Friday night's opponent: the Chicago Bulls, who are already locked into the Eastern Conference's No. 10 play-in spot.
The playoff picture for the Mavericks looks like this: beat Chicago and San Antonio to finish the regular season and Oklahoma City needs to lose to Memphis on Sunday. Doing this, however, would lose that lottery draft pick and it goes to the Knicks. But hey, the Mavs would be playoff bound!
There is a crossroads of which path to take, and if the injury report is any indication, it seems like the front office is ready to pull the plug on 2023.
The team with the 10th-worst record has a 65.9% chance of getting the No. 10 pick. The No. 10 spot has a 13.9% chance of drawing a top-four pick, including a 3% chance of drawing the first overall pick, which is likely going to be the consensus choice in 7-foot-2-inch French star, Victor Wembanyama.
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