Dallas Mavericks

After a disappointing 2022-23 campaign, the Luka Doncic-led Mavericks reached the NBA Finals for the third time in franchise history last season. Midseason trades helped reshape a roster that finished the regular season winning 16 of their final 20 games. The success continued in the postseason before the team fell victim to a talented Celtics that neutralized their offensive attack.

The Mavericks medical team has historically ranked as an upper echelon staff having lost the sixth-fewest games to injury or illness since the 2005-06 season. Last year the team saw a slight dip in those numbers, finishing outside the top 10 for the first time since the 2018-19 season. 

The injuries the Mavs did sustain primarily involved bench players as the trio of Maxi Kleber, Dante Exum, and Josh Green accounted for 50 percent of Dallas’ total games lost. Kleber particularly has found unique ways of getting injured. One year after suffering an unusual hamstring tear, the forward suffered a dislocated pinkie toe that kept him out of the lineup for a total of 37 games.

Dionne Calhoun and the rest of the medical staff will look to get back to their prior success though an injury to Exum will make that difficult. Exum suffered a wrist injury in the early days of training camp and is expected to miss multiple months recovering after surgery was needed. Still, keeping Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the recently added Klay Thompson healthy will put the Mavs in prime position to repeat last year’s success.