Rumors: Luka Doncic sets ambitious 'goal' return date from calf strain

The Dallas Mavericks' holiday season was ruined last month as Luka Doncic went down with a calf strain on Christmas Day against the Minnesota Timberwolves. This was the last thing that Doncic and the Mavs needed, as Doncic was playing his best basketball of the season in early December before getting injured, and the Mavericks were rolling.

Dallas had finally found a rhythm before playing Minnesota on Christmas, as they had won 14 of their previous 17 games before Doncic went down, but this injury has caused them to freefall in the standings over the last few weeks. Every game matters, even at this point in the season, and it feels like the Mavs have to fight especially hard for every win that they get.

Ahead of tonight's game against Minnesota, Dallas is 23-20 on the season and the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, and injuries have been their worst enemy lately. It was announced today that Dereck Lively II would miss at least the next month with a stress fracture in his ankle, and the bad luck just keeps on coming for the Mavs.

Luka Doncic wants to return from injury before the All-Star break

Despite all of the bad news that came from Dallas on Wednesday, there was some good news when it came to Doncic and his potential return. It was already known that Doncic's return date is projected to be sometime in February, but now we have a better idea about Doncic himself's timeline for his highly anticipated return.

According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Doncic's "goal is to be back before the NBA All-Star break." This aligns with what was originally reported about his return, and now we know when Doncic himself wants to get back on the hardwood by.

Since injuring his calf, Doncic has been spotted shooting standstill jumpers (without jumping) at different practices, and Jason Kidd briefly talked about his rehab process during Dallas' pregame press conference on Wednesday.

"Looks great," Kidd said of Doncic's rehab process. "I think he's trending in the right direction, he's doing everything that he's supposed to do."

While Doncic's rehab process and workload are likely extremely light right now as he nurses that injured calf, knowing that he has a goal in mind of when he wants to return to the floor is a major step in the right direction. This rumored goal shows a level of eagerness from Doncic and how badly he wants to play again, and Kidd briefly spoke about this eagerness on Wednesday.

"He’s been out long enough and that this is probably the longest he’s ever been out, so I think it’s safe to say he’d like to be back," Kidd said.

Now that fans know when Doncic's goal return date is, everyone is going to be counting down the days until he plays again, especially once February hits. The Mavs need him back badly, as they are officially in play-in territory right now, but they also must be careful to not rush him back, regardless of when his goal is. Doncic is one to always try to push himself to play in games, but this calf injury isn't something they can afford to rush.

Dallas must ensure that he is fully healthy before activating him again, as him re-injuring his calf would likely end their season. He is the force that drives this team, and the Mavericks will have the chance to go as far as he carries them once he gets healthy. It's going to be difficult to go on another dominant end-of-season run as they did last season, but never count out Doncic and the Mavs whenever he is fully healthy.