The absence will likely be long enough to disqualify the five-time All-NBA player from consideration for several major awards, including MVP.

Unless Doncic can return much earlier than his timeline indicates, he will be ineligible for All-NBA honors. Doncic has already missed eight games and can't miss more than nine the rest of the way. The Mavericks play 19 games between Christmas and the end of January, so a return within nine games is unrealistic.

Well, the Mavericks will be without Doncic for at least a month after he suffered a non-contact strain to his left calf during Wednesday’s Christmas Day loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Doncic left the arena in crutches and he was scheduled to undergo an MRI exam to assess the severity of the injury on Thursday.