The injury bug is already starting to impact the Dallas Mavericks. Around this time in 2024, an illness plagued the team, and former Mavericks guard Quentin Grimes gave a chilling quote on what the players were dealing with in the locker room. Much after the controversial Luka Doncic trade and numerous injuries, the Mavs had to resort to their two-way players, which put the Mavs in a predicament late in the season. They nearly had to forfeit games due to how bad their injury and two-way problems got, and they need to stay as far away from those issues this time around.
The two-way eligibility was heavily relied on last season, and they ran out of two-way eligibility with players like Kessler Edwards and Brandon Williams. Mavs rookie big man, Moussa Cisse, is being forced to play every night due to several injuries to players in the frontcourt, and he even started at one point. The Mavs are already in this mess in a month into the season, with a lot of basketball left to be played.
Cisse has been active for all 16 of Dallas' games, meaning that he is only eligible to suit up for 34 more games this season. The Mavericks can explore signing him to a standard deal at some point later in the season, depending on how the trade deadline goes, but having to rely on a two-way player this heavily is the last thing that fans expected in one of the most pivotal seasons in franchise history.
With the season-ending injury to Dante Exum, the Mavericks have been caught in a pickle, as they aren't eligible to sign anybody until January 6 due to being hard-capped at the second apron. This has been an awful start to the season for Dallas, and it might get worse.
Moussa Cisse could run out of two-way eligibility fast
It was one thing to have an issue with two-way eligibility late in the season last year, but not in mid-November. The Mavericks will have to hold on until early January to stay healthy before they can waive Exum and sign another player. The health of Anthony Davis is the catalyst of this whole situation, and he has not been able to stay on the court much so far.
Mark Cuban shut down any rumors that Davis would be involved in a trade and isn't ready to give up on the season yet. Cisse being forced to play in games this early in the season isn't good for the Mavs at all. However, that's not to say he hasn't played well, because he has.
The young big man out of Memphis has been a great post presence since he's been on the court. He works well in the pick-and-roll game and has already mastered catching lobs. Cisse is only a temporary fix while the Mavs figure out their big man identity. The Mavs might need Cisse for their long-term plans, as Dereck Lively II has been on-and-off with an injury history of his own.
The best-case scenario is for Davis to come back soon, with Lively II and Daniel Gafford staying on the court as well. That's a tough ask considering what they've gone through since last season, and they know well that nothing is a guarantee. The two-way contracts are usually only for emergency use, and the Mavs' use of them this early is not a good sign.
This was not the start the Mavs were expecting. Instead, Davis has been injured more than he's been active in a Mavericks uniform. The up-and-down play of D'Angelo Russell and Klay Thompson has been hard to watch at times. Cooper Flagg is just doing what he can as an 18-year-old, but he's got to get support around him.
Getting healthy will help, and the Mavericks have to find a way to preserve Cisse's two-way eligibility. Dallas can't afford to run out of games for him way too soon, as they'll need him down the final stretch of the season if they want to make a run.