Dallas Mavericks will be without their star center Kristaps Porzingis at the start of the new NBA season. According to the team, Porzingis won’t make the court in the opening games as he is still recovering from meniscus surgery he underwent back in October.
According to Dallas’ president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson, the Latvian big man should be ready for action in early January. The 2020/21 NBA season is set to kick off on December 22nd, meaning that Porzingis could miss around five games.
Porzingis suffered a meniscus injury to his right knee during the Western Conference playoff series against LA Clippers.
“We’re going to make sure that that’s 100 percent before we put him out there, so that’s going to be into the season before we are able to have him join us,” said Nelson during his recent chat with 105.3 FM The Fan.
Kristaps Porzingis previously missed a year and a half after tearing his ACL halfway through the 2017/18 season while with New York Knicks. The injury cost Porzingis the remainder of the season, as well as the entire 2018/20 during which he was traded to Dallas.
Despite not seeing him play in their uniform, Mavs game Porzingis a max-contract five-year, $158 million extension ahead of the 2019/20 season.
Upon returning to court, Porzingis managed to play 57 regular-season games, averaging 20.4 points, career-high 9.5 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game.
