The Dallas Mavericks will be taking a cautious approach to Kristaps Porzingis' workload in the 2019-20 season.
According to Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle, it's likely they will put Porzingis on a load management to start the season. Carlisle specifically cited they will be “very careful” playing the Latvian star in back-to-back games, especially considering that Kristaps has not played in an NBA game for over a year now.
“If I had a gun to my head, I would say that there’s a good chance that we will be very careful on back-to-backs, particularly to start the year,” Carlisle said, per Sam Amico of Amico Hoops. “But I don’t know for sure. I don’t know how he’s going to be feeling at that point.
“He may be insisting on playing, but I do believe in his case and in the case of any player like that, the Mavericks or whatever team is going to err on the side of caution.”
Porzingis missed the entire 2018-19 season as he recovers from the ACL tear he sustained during the 2017-18 campaign while with the New York Knicks. The 24-year-old former All-Star was traded to the Mavs last January alongside Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Courtney Lee.
Kristaps is fully healthy now after completing his recovery, but the Mavs have every reason to proceed with caution when it comes to handling his minutes. After all, Dallas signed him to a five-year, $158 million maximum contract this offseason.
The Mavs will go as far as Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic can take them, so they need both players healthy throughout the 2019-20 season.
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