What are the Mavericks' options to prevent a forfeit as injuries pile up?

Whether you believe in Karma or not, it definitely feels like it’s out to get the Dallas Mavericks after they traded superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Since that fateful day, they’ve been cursed with a slew of injuries, including to Anthony Davis, the player they traded Doncic for, who played for about 32 minutes.

Now, they’re so shorthanded that they may be forced to forfeit games. Here’s why and what they can do to prevent it.

Mavs left with few options as playoffs loom

At the moment, the Mavericks have eight injured players on their roster:

• Olivier-Maxence Prosper
• Kai Jones
• Danté Exum
• Kyrie Irving
• Anthony Davis
• Jaden Hardy
• Daniel Gafford
• Dereck Lively II

Three of the injured Mavericks players suffered injuries bad enough to end their season - Kyrie Irving, Olvier Maxence-Prosper, and Dante Exum. Others, including Anthony Davis, Lively, and Gafford, are improving, but their return date is still uncertain.

That leaves Dallas with just nine healthy players on the roster.

• Brandon Williams
• Dwight Powell
• Klay Thompson
• Naji Marshall
• Caleb Martin
• Max Christie
• Spencer Dinwiddie
• Kessler Edwards
• P.J. Washington

Two of those players, Brandon Williams and Kessler Edwards, are limited due to their two-way contracts, which state that they can only be active for up to 50 games with their NBA team. Edwards has played 38 games and sat 10 for 48 total. Williams has played in 26 and sat 19 for 45 total. That leaves two more for Edwards and five for Williams. If the Mavs start Edwards for their next two games, then he’ll be unavailable by March 24, when the Mavs play the Brooklyn Nets.

Unfortunately for the Mavs, they also cannot sign any more players as they are just under the first apron hard cap by $51,000.

P.J. Washington made his return today against the Philadelphia 76ers after a seven-game absence, which is good news for the Mavs.

But the Mavs cannot afford any other losses - if they fall below the minimum of eight active players required to play, they could be forced to forfeit. They have two options to avoid this worst-case scenario: Injured players return before March 24, or the Mavs lie on the injury report.

Jones could potentially return by March 24 as he was listed as questionable on Friday’s injury report, leaving some hope that he could be healthy soon. If not, the Mavericks have the option of listing injured players as active, which of course would have consequences from the league, but would work to avoid a forfeit, which would be worse.

The Mavericks are currently 10th in the Western Conference and technically still in the picture to make the Play-In, but they’re in a precarious situation as they try to stay in it before losing all their players. Their next game is on Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers on the road.

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