An injury continues to disrupt what may be Dirk Nowitzki‘s final NBA season, writes Dwain Price of Mavs.com. The Mavericks star said he is still “weeks” away from returning to action because of a left ankle problem that has bothered him since undergoing surgery in April. He hasn’t been able to participate in a full practice or go through a normal workout.
“We’re taking it super slow obviously now since we’ve had a couple of setbacks since we’ve increased the workload,” Nowitzki said. “So I’m just taking it slow, just started shooting, just started running a bit on the treadmill slow.”
When Nowitzki does return, the Mavs haven’t decided whether he will remain a starter or be moved to the second unit.
There’s more tonight out of Texas:
- Despite being mentioned as a possible candidate in the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes, the Mavericks have no interest in trying to acquire the star forward from the Timberwolves, tweets Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. He lists the Rockets, Sixers and Heat as the top candidates, in that order, and states that the Lakers may make a strong bid as well.
- No team has gotten off to a more disappointing start than the Rockets, who went from the league’s best record last year to one of the worst over the first two weeks of this season. Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post examines what has gone wrong in Houston and wonders whether the team was too focused on saving money this offseason. Bontemps agrees that it made financial sense to let Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute leave in free agency, especially considering the luxury tax implications of keeping them, but he questions why the Rockets didn’t use any of their mid-level exception and why they dealt Ryan Anderson for Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss, who may both struggle to get playing time.
- Manu Ginobili retired over the summer, but he still has one more momentous night left in San Antonio. The Spurs announced on their website that Ginobili’s number 20 will be retired in a March 28 ceremony. Ginobili played 16 seasons and was part of four championship teams. He will be the ninth San Antonio player to have his number retired.
Forget Butler. Derrick Rose scored 50 tonight and blocked game tying shot by Dante Exum of Jazz.
Nobody thought he’d make it back. He’s averaging 18.8 points a game now. Many NBA buddies congratulated him for his career night last night. His night and his speech about being a leader for the young guys probably made Butler sick.
Rose plays the game we all enjoy and expect, on and off the BB Court ..
It still boggles me how everyone thinks Ariza and Moute were what lead Houston to win 65 games last year. Ariza hasn’t been doing squat for Phoenix.
Houston hasn’t been doing squat for Houston this year.
ariza was a big piece for them. he defended the best player, he spread the floor and was a leader w. championship experience. he may not be an allstar, but those glue guys are important on a contender.