Kidd drops concerning injury update on key Maverick that fans won't want to hear

The Dallas Mavericks' injury luck has been unbelievably awful this season, and their bad luck heightened on Friday night as two more Mavericks went down with injuries against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Dwight Powell and Jaden Hardy both left this game with injuries, and Dallas' rotation was stretched even thinner in their narrow loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Monday afternoon. Quentin Grimes was ruled out from this game due to back spasms, and he joined Luka Doncic, Dante Exum, Hardy, Dereck Lively II, and Powell on Jason Kidd's ever-growing list of players who would miss the game.

Lively II being ruled out after being originally listed as questionable wasn't too big of a shock, but what Kidd said when asked about the injury was a bit concerning. When asked if Lively II is close to returning to the floor, Kidd said "I don't think so," but this wasn't the only negative update from Kidd's end when it comes to injuries on Monday.

Dante Exum has 'no timeline' to return from wrist injury

Kidd said "there's no timeline" when it comes to Exum's return, and this is starting to become a bit unsettling considering that the original report on the injury indicated that he would be out for three months. The three-month window is already out the window since Exum injured his wrist at the beginning of October, and now his return is going to come down to how his wrist is healing and how it responds to the work that he's putting in.

"He has been shooting, but we're still a ways away," Kidd said.

Exum has been shooting jumpers with his right hand since earlier this month, and before that, he had been doing workouts with just his left hand. Kidd made it clear that Exum is still working hard, but his return to the court may not even be close.

Kidd and the Mavericks have missed Exum's steady hand at point guard, perimeter defense, and stellar 3-point shooting all season long, and with Hardy going down over the weekend, they are missing him even more. Dallas has been forced to heavily rely on Spencer Dinwiddie at the point guard spot with all of the injuries that have plagued the team, and while he has been great in spurts, having Exum back would help alleviate some of the weight that has naturally been placed upon his shoulders.

With Doncic not returning until next month and Exum not being close to a return either, the Mavericks are going to have to continue to get the most of Dinwiddie, Kyrie Irving, and Naji Marshall as the team's primary creators. Grimes has also shown a clear ability to create for his teammates when needed, but Kidd typically plays him as a secondary creator and puts him on the floor with one of the three aforementioned players.

Dallas will have their work cut out for them moving forward, as they'll play the Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Boston Celtics over the next five days, and these are the exact games that you'd hope Exum would be available for. His poise in big moments has been missed, and he singlehandedly helped win a handful of games for the Mavericks last season due to his clutch gene. Dallas could have used him in the final minutes of yesterday's disappointing loss to the Hornets, and his return is highly anticipated.