Fansided

Deron Williams out for year, David Lee out Thunder series

By John Buhler

Apr 13, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Deron Williams (8) leaves the court after the loss to the San Antonio Spurs at the American Airlines Center. The Spurs defeat the Mavericks 96-91. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 13, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Deron Williams (8) leaves the court after the loss to the San Antonio Spurs at the American Airlines Center. The Spurs defeat the Mavericks 96-91. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Dallas Mavericks have bad news on the injury front, as point guard Deron Williams is out for the year and David Lee is out the rest of the first round.

The Dallas Mavericks will have more than their hands full with regards to injuries facing playoff elimination in Game 5 of their first round versus the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle told Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News on Sunday afternoon that point guard Deron Williams will be out the rest of the 2016 NBA Playoffs with a sports hernia. Williams has been informed that resting a month is the best thing for his hernia.

While he would certainly miss any more games Dallas would play beyond Game 5, he could very well avoid surgery, so that’s good for him and the Mavericks going forward into 2016-17.

However, Sefko did add late Monday morning that Carlisle did say that recently acquired power forward David Lee will not play in any of the remaining games in the first round series, citing a torn plantar fascia.

While Carlisle hasn’t completely ruled out a return for Lee in the 2016 NBA Playoffs should Dallas somehow advance, having a key rotational big man like Lee in a walking boot is definitely not a good sign.

Though Dallas will need to play outstanding basketball and win three straight games to upset the No. 3 seeded Thunder, it seems very likely that the Mavericks’ 2015-16 NBA season will come to a close after Game 5 Monday night at Chesapeake Energy Center in Downtown Oklahoma City.

Carlisle is absolutely one of the top five coaches in the NBA today, but his front office needs to do a better job of giving him players that aren’t also-ran in the offseason, so that he can do his best to coach another Mavericks to an NBA Finals in the Dirk Nowitzki era. The clock is ticking on Dallas being a playoff caliber team in the Western Conference. One less year of winning an NBA Finals with a roster built around Nowitzki.

For more posts on the 2016 NBA Playoffs, please check out our NBA Playoffs hub page.

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