The Dallas Mavericks mortgaged their short-term future by trading for injured big man Kristaps Porzingis earlier this month. So as the team embarks on its final stretch of the 2018-19 season, the absence of Luka Doncic, thankfully, doesn't loom nearly as large it would have otherwise.

The Rookie of the Year front-runner won't play in the Mavs' game against the Denver Nuggets on Friday night while dealing with a sore right ankle.

Luka Doncic practiced ahead of Dallas' game at Pepsi Center, but he was off the floor by the time reporters were let into the arena, receiving treatment from trainers. The Mavs initially listed him as questionable against the Nuggets.

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It's worth noting that this ankle injury is different from the one that kept him out of a game against the Detroit Pistons on January 31st, another for which he was a late scratch.

The Latvian sensation has taken the league by storm this season, surpassing the expectations of even those who believed the unprecedented success he enjoyed in Europe would eventually translate to the NBA.

Doncic is averaging 20.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game this season, numbers that compare favorably to those LeBron James posted as a rookie. The 19-year-old is already a more dangerous long-range shooter than James has ever been, though, with an arsenal of step-back moves matched by no other player in the league with the notable exception of James Harden.

Dallas, 26-31, is 12th in the Western Conference, five games back of the eighth-place LA Clippers.