Courtney Lee, who had become a part-time starter for the Mavericks after the season-ending injury to Jalen Brunson, will be lost for the restart of the season next month after suffering a calf injury.
Several reports indicated that the fluke injury required surgery, although the Mavericks made no mention of any procedure.
Regardless, the loss of Lee is a significant one. In seven March games (five starts), he had averaged 6.6 points in just under 23 minutes per game. The 6-5 shooting guard shot 44.7 percent from 3-point range for the season.
Lee’s is the latest injury dealt to the Mavericks, following the season-ending right Achilles tear to starting center Dwight Powell and the right shoulder injury suffered by Brunson.
Lee, who had persevered despite going long stretches this season without getting off the bench, is a valued member of the locker room, bringing his 12 years of NBA experience to the table. For that reason, it remains unclear whether the Mavericks would waive Lee and open up a spot for another player to take to Orlando when the season resumes on July 31.
A one-week signing window began on Monday. There was considerable chatter on the Internet that Ryan Broekhoff could be re-signed.
That would require jettisoning a player, however.
Here’s the official release from the Mavericks:
COURTNEY LEE INJURY UPDATE
DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks announced today that guard Courtney Lee suffered a left calf injury during the NBA hiatus. Lee will not be available when the team resumes organized workouts on July 1.
No timetable for his return has been set at this time.
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