Maxi Kleber can't play through his recently dislocated toe after all. The veteran big man missed the Dallas Mavericks' blowout win over the LA Clippers on Friday night, and Jason Kidd told reporters the following morning that he will be sidelined for at least the next two weeks before being re-evaluated.
“He tried to play on it, and it was still bothering him, so we're going to give him extended time to heal,” Kidd said of Kleber, per Grant Afseth of Dallasbasketball.com. “He will be re-evaluated in a couple of weeks.”
Kleber dislocated his pinkie toe in Dallas' win over the Chicago Bulls on November 1st, an injury the league hadn't seen in over a decade, per Jeff Stotts of InStreetClothes.com. He missed the next three games while nursing the injury, returning to score four points, grab four rebounds and hand out two assists in the Mavs' loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday. Clearly, Kleber is still dealing with significant discomfort, causing Dallas to go back to the drawing board in how to best manage his injury.
The 31-year-old has seen his role diminished in the early going of 2023-24 due to the offseason additions of forward Grant Williams and rookie center Dereck Lively II in the frontcourt. He's averaged just 18.0 minutes per game in five appearances this season, the lowest amount since his debut campaign in 2017-18. Expect Lively, Williams, Dwight Powell and potentially deep reserve Richaun Holmes to see an increase in playing time while Kleber is out.
The Mavs, 7-2, are back in action on Sunday at the New Orleans Pelicans.
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