The Mavericks are in virtually uncharted territory when it comes to injuries this season. The list seems to grow by the day, and true to form, it grew again this afternoon. Oliver-Maxence Prosper quietly joined the list of wounded Mavs just a few short days ago in the wake of injuries to Kyrie Irving and Jaden Hardy. A seemingly innocuous wrist injury has since proven to be much more severe than originally indicated.
Per Shams Charania, O-Max will be out for an extended period. That is, his season is over as he is headed to the surgical table to repair his wrist.
Another injury blow to Dallas: Mavericks forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper has a serious right wrist injury and is expected to require season-ending surgery, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/cVpBMtYjoJ
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 7, 2025
The 6’7” 22-year-old averaged 3.9 points and 2.4 rebounds per game before his season was cut short. Many expected O-Max to play a larger role while making bigger contributions this season, but it didn’t quite play out that way. An effective defender, O-Max has yet to find any consistency with his shot (40.2% overall and 23.5% from downtown). He did show flashes of promise for stretches this season, playing under control more consistently than last year and looking more like a true NBA player, but we’ll now have to wait until next fall to see what comes next for his development.
Much like Jaden Hardy prior to his own injury, the extra layer of disappointment here is that O-Max was surely set to play extended minutes in the closing weeks of the season. Tonight, the Mavs rolled out nine players, at least one of which (Klay Thompson) was on a minutes restriction. It’s truly ponderous at this point how the Mavs could get bit so badly by the Injury Bug, so much so that the one silver lining of developing players getting more time is even met with a failure to launch.
At this point, we can only hope no one else gets injured from here on out. If we can manage a single healthy game, perhaps we can shift our focus to enjoying players like Brandon Williams blossoming before our eyes, new Mav Caleb Martin suiting up (tonight), or guys like Naji Marshall taking on a larger role. Maybe there are a few positive surprises yet to come.