How the hiatus affects all 30 NBA teams

Dallas Mavericks: Providing more time for one of Luka’s favorite weapons

When Dwight Powell was lost for the season to a ruptured Achilles’ tendon in late January, the Dallas Mavericks‘ only contingency plan was trading for Willie Cauley-Stein as a replacement for the rim-running alley-oop threat he provided for Luka Doncic. With the NBA unlikely to resume until June or July at the earliest, this is precious recovery time for Powell.

Most athletes who suffer from Achilles’ injuries aren’t even able to start jogging until around six months, and sometimes it’s even longer than that. This kind of timeline would mean Powell probably wouldn’t be basketball-ready until August or September, but that timeframe isn’t out of the realm of possibility for the NBA’s return depending on how the coronavirus situation is handled in the U.S.

After starting the season 27-16, the Mavs had gone just 13-11 since Powell’s injury. He’s not the only X-factor involved, as Jalen Brunson could use the extra time to recover from shoulder surgery too, but this layover might help Dallas get back to looking more like the 4- or 5-seed it was for the first half of the season.