Mavericks' inescapable curse from last season is haunting their summer

Dallas Mavericks fans will always blame the team’s collapse during the 2024-25 season on the Luka Doncic trade, and while the Mavericks undoubtedly should’ve netted more of a return from the Los Angeles Lakers in this infamous trade, injuries are what destroyed their season and caused them to miss the playoffs for the second time in three seasons.

This unshakable problem from last season has uncomfortably crept into their offseason, and Dallas truly can't catch a break.

The Mavericks nearly got fully healthy right before the Play-In Tournament last season (outside of Kyrie Irving and his torn ACL), but they have quietly moved back to square one in the injury department this summer. This is exactly what Mavericks fans didn't want after the team went through one of the most bizarre injury and illness stretches this league has ever seen, and they'll need to be at full strength once the regular season rolls around to avoid falling behind in the standings.

Mavs' injury nightmare stretches into offseason as stars undergo surgery

After dealing with an adductor injury for his entire Mavericks tenure last season, Anthony Davis underwent surgery to repair a detached retina this offseason. This injury isn’t expected to affect his availability for training camp and preseason, as he is expected to be ready to roll just in time, but it could derail his offseason training regimen.

Some of Davis’ injuries in the past have been pinned on him not ramping up his activity until later in the summer, and Mavs fans will be hoping that Davis has plenty of time before training camp begins to get ready for his first full season with the team.

Davis having another injury-plagued season could completely obliterate the Mavs' plan to win a title as soon as possible, as they need him as healthy as possible to remain afloat in a loaded Western Conference. Nico Harrison pushed all of his chips to the center of the table when he traded Doncic for Davis, and even though Cooper Flagg extended the Mavericks' championship window significantly, they also need to win now, considering how much has been put into the current roster.

Davis isn't the only Mavericks big man who needed surgery this offseason, as Dereck Lively II also underwent an unexpected procedure to repair bone spurs in his right foot. Lively II suffered a stress fracture in his right foot (which was originally ruled an ankle sprain) in January, but he returned at the beginning of April, leading Mavs fans to believe that he wouldn't need surgery.

This was a question that was presented to Harrison during his end-of-season press conference in April, and he said that "he didn't believe" that Lively II would need surgery this offseason. Things obviously changed, as Lively II had to get surgery, and fans can only wonder if the initial misdiagnosis of the injury made his foot worse and led to him needing surgery. Although Lively II should be ready to roll when training camp begins, having both of your likely starting bigs having to recover from surgery this summer is not ideal when Dallas is desperate to get back on track.

Another starter who is dealing with an injury this summer is Irving, as he will miss a decent chunk of games next season. Everyone knew that Irving would be out for significant time as soon as it was announced that he tore his ACL back in March, and while he hasn't made it clear when he will return yet, it seems like the Mavericks think that he will come back at some point next season since their only big move to replace him was signing D'Angelo Russell.

Every Mavs fan will be praying that Davis and Lively II will be at 100 percent by training camp, hopefully leaving last season's injury bug far behind them. Jason Kidd said that he had never seen anything like the injury curse that Dallas was dealing with last season, and he is going to need everyone healthy if he wants to coach the Mavs back to the NBA Finals.

Dallas seemed like they had snapped out of the injury spell when nearly everyone was available for the Play-In Tournament, but with Davis and Lively II having offseason surgery, the Mavs may be stuck dealing with last season's problem heading into a pivotal 2025-26 season.