Mavs' Daniel Gafford to Get Knee Injury Reevaluated in 2 Weeks amid AD's Absence

The Dallas Mavericks could be heading into the All-Star break without multiple key players.

Starting center Daniel Gafford will be reevaluated in two weeks after suffering a right knee sprain, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Tuesday.

The Mavs are already missing two centers in Dereck Lively II, who last played on Jan. 14 before suffering a right ankle stress fracture, and Dwight Powell, who has been out since Jan. 17 after suffering a right hip strain.

Dallas is also without star forward Anthony Davis, who will miss "multiple weeks" with a left adductor strain, Charania and Tim MacMahon reported Monday.

The injuries will immediately test the depth of the Mavericks without Luka Dončić, who was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Davis on Feb. 1.

The Mavericks play twice more before the All-Star break, with a back-to-back home set coming up against the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat.

The team will be playing those games without Gafford, who suffered his injury during the second quarter of the Mavericks' Monday game against the Sacramento Kings.

Gafford had started 13 of the Mavericks' last 14 games, averaging 15.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 3.2 blocks over that stretch.

The Mavericks' injury list goes beyond the four players who are already confirmed out. PJ Washington, who missed the Mavericks' last outing with an ankle sprain, is listed as questionable against the Warriors. So is Dante Exum, who played Monday but has been listed on the injury report since Sunday with Achilles tightness.

This depleted frontcourt means the Mavs could be playing without a center on Wednesday. Kyrie Irving is already taking on one of the top 10 workloads in the NBA by playing 36.5 minutes per game when available, and he could see even more responsibility now that Gafford is out.

The sudden rash of injuries stings even more for the Mavericks given that Dončić, who missed his last month with the team after suffering a Christmas Day injury, returned to action for his Lakers debut on Monday.

The Mavericks may have to wait until after the break to make a complete evaluation of the impact of the Dončić trade. Dallas will hope to have some injured players nearing a return by the time the team returns to post-All-Star action on Friday, Feb. 21.