DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks big man Anthony Davis’ return to the court could be arriving sooner than many fans expected.
Hours after the team announced that Davis had been assigned to the Texas Legends of the NBA G League, the Mavs said that the 32-year-old center had been recalled to join the NBA roster again.
Mavs guard Jaden Hardy was assigned and recalled at the same time as Davis, with the pair having spent a one-day practice stint with the other Texas Legends players on Monday morning.
Hardy, as well as Mavs two-way big man Kai Jones, are in contention to be active for the Dallas’ game on Wednesday against at the Indiana Pacers, according to NBA correspondent Marc Stein.
But when will Davis play again in a Dallas Mavericks uniform?
The team hasn’t yet given any indication as to when that might be, but the swiftness with which the Mavs brought him back onto the roster certainly makes it seem like it will happen sooner rather than later—especially with the team’s ongoing injury issues in its frontcourt.
When an NBA player is assigned to a G League affiliate, it means, quite simply, that the NBA team is sending a player to play with its NBA G League affiliate, according to the NBA. Usually, this happens when a player is working back into shape after an injury, as Davis is doing. Roster moves such as these allow a player to get some 5-on-5 work in practice without having to step back onto the court for an NBA game.
When assigned to the G League, a player remains under NBA contract, and the assigning NBA team has the exclusive rights to recall that player at any time, as the Mavs did Monday afternoon.
On February 8, Davis suffered an adductor strain in his first game with the Mavs after being part of the Luka Doncic trade. He went down in the third quarter with what was described at the time as a “lower-body injury.” On March 7, the team gave an update on Davis’ injury progress, saying he “is improving daily and has therefore been cleared for more dynamic on-court movements.”
That new update came two weeks after the previous update, where the team simply said he was “making good progress.”
After the Mavs’ game against the Pacers on Wednesday, the team’s next matchup is Friday at home against the Detroit Pistons.
The team then gets two days of rest before traveling on the road to play the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.
