Mavericks get crucial Klay Thompson, PJ Washington injury updates

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks held practice on Friday and head coach Jason Kidd provided two important injury updates after the practice. Klay Thompson is dealing with back tightness, while PJ Washington is battling hip tightness.

“He did the walk-through, did some stuff on the floor,” Kidd said of Thompson. “Then he got his treatment, so we will see how he feels tomorrow.”

Thompson made his Mavs debut on Thursday and played well for the most part. The Mavs are hoping Thompson’s injury concern is not anything serious. They will monitor the situation before making a decision on his official availability for Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Washington has yet to play in a preseason game. He was seen participating in a drill on Friday, however.

“He’s been great. He got some work in today, he will get some work in tomorrow,” Kidd said of Washington. “We will see how he feels for Monday.”

There does not seem to be too much concern about either injury, but the Mavs will continue to keep a close eye on both situations.

Mavericks have championship aspirations

The primary goal for this Mavs team is to not just reach the NBA Finals again, but to win a championship. Adding Klay Thompson, a four-time champion, will help in that regard. Jason Kidd knows a thing or two about winning championships as well, having accomplished the feat with the Mavs as a player in 2011.

“When you talk about teams that have been successful, the first thing is sacrifice or being unselfish,” Kidd said. “Those are the two things that you will hear past champions or future champions talk about… being able to sacrifice or being unselfish. Being about the team. Then they will sprinkle in paying attention to details small and big. That’s what it takes to win.”

Staying healthy will also be of the utmost importance. Many talented teams have failed to accomplish their goals due to injuries. The Mavericks are already dealing with injury concerns, but Kidd knows how to navigate the adversity.

“For us, it’s almost normal. This was last year’s training camp, we had some injuries,” the Mavericks head coach said. “Just deal with it, you got to teach and coach the guys that you have. We have to be prepared, we have always taken that approach that if guys are hurt we got to go with the guys who can play… So you want to make sure that those guys are ready, but also for those guys that are working their way back into playing, we want to spend time with them, too.

“The nice thing is that PJ (Washington), Luka (Doncic) and Maxi (Kleber) have been in the system so they understand what we are trying to do so it shouldn’t take them that long. Hopefully we can get Kessler (Edwards) back, get him on the floor, see what he can do.”

For now, Kidd plans to help the available players learn the Mavericks’ system ahead of the season. Thompson’s availability will be especially important as a result as he looks to learn the Mavs’ complete scheme.