Dallas Mavericks power forward/center Maxi Kleber suffered a right foot fracture in Saturday’s 122-107 loss to the Boston Celtics, the team announced.
The Mavs said Kleber would be reevaluated this week, but sources told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Shams Charania that he would sit out an extended period of time.
Dallas Mavericks’ Maxi Kelber suffered a right foot fracture during the third quarter of Saturday’s loss to the Boston Celtics
Kleber suffered the injury in the third quarter and was ruled out for the rest of the game after limping to the locker room.
X-rays revealed his fracture just days after Mavericks starting center Dereck Lively II was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right ankle. Lively will be reevaluated in a month, and he’ll be sidelined for at least two months.
In 34 games (four starts) this season, Kleber has averaged career lows of 3.0 points and 2.8 rebounds to go along with 1.3 assists and 18.7 minutes per contest, while also shooting all-time lows of 38.5% from the field and 26.5% from 3-point range.
The Dallas Mavericks announced today that Mavericks center Maxi Kleber sustained a right foot fracture during today’s game against the Boston Celtics.
Kleber will be re-evaluated this week.
— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) January 26, 2025
According to Basketball Reference, this has statistically been Kleber’s worst season of his NBA career. His player efficiency rating (5.7), true shooting percentage (48.9%), usage percentage (8.6%), and turnover percentage (17.9%) are all career lows.
Maxi Kleber, who turns 33 on Jan. 29, agreed to a three-year, $33 million contract extension with the Mavericks in September 2022. He’s earning $11 million this campaign and is slated to make $11 million in 2025-26.
Daniel Gafford is the only healthy center on the Mavs’ roster
To make matters worse, backup center Dwight Powell has sat out the past four games because of a strained hip. This means Daniel Gafford is the only healthy big man on Dallas’ roster.
“It’s a hole. It’s tough,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said in his postgame interview regarding the slew of injuries to the team’s big men. “I’ve never seen anything like it, and it’s not going to get any better.”
A source informed MacMahon and Charania that there was optimism that Powell would be able to return at some point during Dallas’ five-game road trip that begins Wednesday.
The Mavs are expected to evaluate their options to address their lack of depth at center. Options include scouring the trade market ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline and signing players to two-way deals or 10-day contracts.
According to a source close to the team, the Mavericks’ front office is “cautious about giving up a significant asset in a deal to fix a temporary problem,” the anonymous reference told Charania.
The Mavericks (24-22) sit ninth in the Western Conference standings. Dallas trails the eighth-seed Phoenix Suns (23-21) and remains a 1/2 game ahead of the 10th-place Sacramento Kings (23-22).
