The opening day of the NBA season may only be ten days away but some teams are already having to deal with key injuries. The Dallas Mavericks suffered a major blow as projected starting guard Seth Curry got injured and will be out for an unknown amount of time. Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz got even worse injury news involving key role player and former top lottery pick Dante Exum.
The young guard appears to have suffered another major setback.
Curry is out indefinitely for Mavericks
Today, the Dallas Mavericks announced that Seth Curry had been diagnosed by team doctors with a stress reaction in his left tibia. His status has been announced as out indefinitely and he will be re-evaluated on a weekly basis by the team. This is a blow to the Mavericks as he was set to start alongside rookie Dennis Smith Jr., the team's 19-year-old lottery pick.
The 27-year-old Curry had a breakthrough season last year after signing a two-year, $6 million deal to join the Mavericks last summer.
He played in 70 games and started 42 of them, whereas he had only played in 48 games and started nine over his first three years in the league.
Last year he also averaged a career-high in points (12.8), rebounds (2.6), assists (2.7), and steals (1.1). Curry also shot a career-best 48.1 percent from the field and 85.0 percent from the free throw line, while also shooting 42.5 percent on three-pointers.
Despite Curry being sidelined, the Mavericks do have the depth to fill the void he leaves. The team has veteran experience in Devin Harris and J.J. Barea. They also have first-year player Yogi Ferrell, who started 29 games and impressed the team as an undrafted rookie.
Exum's entire 2017-18 season is in danger
League sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski that Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum could miss the entire 2017-18 season due to a separated left shoulder and ligament damage. Exum apparently suffered the injury driving to the basket during last night's preseason victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Head coach Quin Snyder said following the win, “If you saw he shoulder, it didn't look good.” Wojnarowski's sources said an MRI revealed the damage and that team officials and doctors were meeting to discuss how his injury will be handled going forward.
Exum, the fifth pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, already missed the entire 2015-16 season due to a torn ACL. Last season he played in 66 games and started 26 of them. He averaged 6.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and shot 42.7 percent from the field. Now, rookie Donovan Mitchell will take over Exum's role as the backup to Ricky Rubio.