Kristaps Porzingis' Load Management Could Determine Mavs Playoff Fate in 2019-2020

Whether we like it or not, the words "load management" will likely be used a lot during this upcoming season for the Dallas Mavericks when talking about young franchise star, Kristaps Porzingis. Although Porzingis has spent a lot of time working on his body in hopes of preventing future injuries, the fact remains that he hasn't played in an NBA game in nineteen months since tearing his ACL against the Milwaukee Bucks in February of 2018. This kind of time off after a significant injury is uncharted waters for an elite player in general, but especially for one who stands 7-feet, 3-inches tall.

Having to knock off rust at the beginning of the season will be both understandable and expected for Porzingis. However, the main concern will be how his body reacts to being on the floor again. The Mavs training staff will be tasked with determining just how many games Porzingis is capable of playing this season without being pushed beyond his limits. Although there most-likely isn’t a specific number of “load management” games in place yet, I’d imagine the Mavs will take their time with Porzingis at the start of the season, while giving him more of a leash on the back end of the season if all goes well.

On one hand, you have a team with burning playoff aspirations that will more-than-likely need Porzingis on the floor often, along with reigning Rookie of the Year, Luka Doncic, to have a chance of reaching that goal this season. On the other hand, you also have a team that just invested $158 million in Porzingis over the next five years, and you’d hate to push him too far, too soon, and risk throwing a wrench into the franchise's bigger picture plans.

The Mavs have missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons now, and they’re starting to run out of patience. Luka Doncic has only been around for one of those playoff-less seasons, but even he is expressing early urgency for the Mavs to make it over the hump this season. "We'll make the playoffs," Doncic predicted in a recent interview. "We must."

Justin Jackson, another young player the Mavs are extremely excited about as he heads into his third NBA season, is also expressed optimism about Dallas' playoff chances. "I think it's very realistic, as far as making the playoff run (goes)," Jackson recently proclaimed on The Step Back: A Mavs Podcast.

Optimism is a great thing to have, and there is going to be a lot of pieces to this potential Mavs playoff puzzle, but Porzingis' health is going to be the biggest factor of them all. If all goes according to plan, I think it's reasonable to expect Porzingis to miss between 12-to-15 games, with most of those missed games coming earlier in the season due to the Mavs being cautious. That seems like a lot, but if the Mavs can weather that storm, their playoff hopes should remain in tact throughout the year.

And who knows? Maybe Porzingis' muscular transformation this offseason will be just what the doctor ordered to alleviate most of his injury concerns. I really don't believe the Mavs front office would have given Porzingis a fully-guaranteed $158 million if they weren't satisfied with his recovery process and confident that he will return to being an elite player. Casey Smith spearheads one of the best and most respected training staffs in the entire league, and they have earned the benefit of the doubt in situations like these.

However, what this all boils down to, is that the Mavs are dealing with a situation that is unprecedented. There are simply too many unknown factors in play to pinpoint exactly how Porzingis' load management will be handled. That being said, we're about three weeks away from getting a better idea of what the Mavs plan will be, and in turn, also getting an idea of just how tough their road to the playoffs might be.

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