Maxi Kleber is not safe in Mavericks’ rotation despite full injury recovery

Dallas Mavericks basketball is only a few days away from kicking off, as the culmination of work that the Mavericks have put into training camp and the preseason with this new roster is finally set to debut on Thursday. The Mavericks appeared to have finally settled on their full 18-man roster, as Dallas signed Jazian Gortman to a two-way contract with their final remaining two-way slot that was vacated after waiving wing A.J. Lawson.

While the preseason period is over and players at the back half of Dallas' roster now have a little more sense of security in regard to staying signed to the team, the evaluation of the Mavericks' rotation by Dallas' coaching staff is still very much in its beginning stages.

As the season progresses, head coach Jason Kidd will fine-tune Dallas' rotation to accentuate this roster to its fullest potential if all things go according to plan. Throughout the first few months of the season though, it wouldn't be surprising to see some spots in Dallas' rotation be in flux, especially since Dallas didn't even get a look at their full roster together once during preseason.

One player who has been a mainstay in Dallas' rotation who fits that criteria of being one of the players on this Dallas roster whose spot is up in the air, is none other than Maxi Kleber. Kleber missed all of preseason for the Mavericks with an ankle injury, but after Saturday's practice Kidd confirmed that Dallas' roster projects to be fully healthy heading into the first game of the season, so it seems Kleber has fully recovered.

Maxi Kleber's spot may be in jeopardy due to Olivier-Maxence Prosper

With that being said though, Kleber getting a consistent spot in this Mavericks rotation is something that is very much in jeopardy, as young forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper had a stellar preseason for the Mavericks and is poised to push Kleber for more of his minutes at the four position.

While Kleber didn't play at all in preseason as aforementioned, Prosper averaged 10 points and 4.5 rebounds per game on an average of just under 23 minutes per game throughout all four of Dallas' preseason contests.

Based on how Prosper played at Summer League, a lot of Mavericks fans would've thought that it would be a long shot for him to be a consistent valve in Dallas' rotation. However, Prosper was training relentlessly all summer long, and he displayed his versatility as a defender as well as his improved offensive repertoire for the Mavericks in preseason.

Prosper was more consistent with his mid-range jump shot during preseason as well, and he looked far more comfortable attacking off of closeouts compared to last year, evidenced by plays such as his monster jam over Milwaukee Bucks center Anzejs Pasecniks in Dallas' last preseason contest.

Prosper's 3-point jumper looks to have a more fluid motion as well, even though he didn't shoot enough shots from outside in preseason for us to know just how much his shooting has improved yet.

Meanwhile, Kleber has struggled when returning from injuries in the past, and his perimeter defense and 3-point shooting have slowly declined over the past few seasons with the amount of wear and tear that he's gone through. If Prosper can be the bigger-bodied 3-and-D wing Mavericks fans were hoping for eventually when Dallas drafted him in 2023, then there's a chance he could eclipse Kleber in Dallas' rotation early on this season.

So long as Kleber is available, there will likely be certain situations where Dallas plays him because they need a floor-stretching big man, However, Kleber has been a polarizing player for Mavericks fans over the last handful of seasons, so all odds are pointing toward Prosper taking a leap and eventually surpassing Kleber as the main backup four on this Dallas roster.