Luka Doncic Update: When’s He Back with Mavs?

The NBA announced that it is reducing the health and safety protocols quarantine period, and reinforcements, including Luka Doncic, could be on the way very soon for the Dallas Mavericks.

Dalton Trigg | Dec 27, 2021

Today, the NBA announced that it is reducing the health and safety protocols quarantine period from 10 days to six days for vaccinated players and coaches, according to a report by ESPN.

This is a significant development for the Dallas Mavericks, as they have had a number of players who have been in protocols.

Superstar Luka Doncic, who is vaccinated, is currently in his 5th day of quarantine, meaning that he could potentially be cleared for action as soon as Tuesday. Doncic was getting ready to make his return from an ankle sprain last Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks before having to enter the health and safety protocols, which caused him to miss that game and the Mavs’ Christmas Day game against the Utah Jazz.

Tim Hardaway Jr. could make his return as soon as tomorrow as well being that he has been in protocols for five days as well. Reggie Bullock, who has now been in protocols for eight days, should be able to return immediately if he is vaccinated.

Head coach Jason Kidd has done an admirable job with this ‘Makeshift Mavs’ roster, despite enduring a handful of close, tough losses to the Lakers, Wolves, Bucks, and Jazz. The team’s scrappy, energetic play, due in part to the 10-day hardship additions of Theo Pinson and Marquese Chriss, even prompted owner Mark Cuban to say that there could be some ‘hard’ roster decisions coming up soon.

Hopefully, for Dallas, this period without its main contributors will pay dividends for the rest of the roster going forward this season. Regardless, it’s nice to know that Doncic and other Mavs reinforcements are on the way back at a crucial part of the season.

Published Dec 27, 2021

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.