How Dallas Will Adjust Its Lineup Against the OKC Thunder in Maxi Kleber's Absence

After defeating the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs, the Dallas Mavericks will now take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Semifinals.

The Mavericks, however, will be without one of their key role players against OKC, as 6-foot-10 stretch big-man Maxi Kleber separated his AC joint in Round 1 and will be re-evaluated in three weeks.

At 32-years-old, Kleber gives Dallas a confident perimeter shooter with good size, plenty of playoff experience and solid defensive versatility. In six games against the Clippers, Kleber went 10-of-18 from 3-point range, including a 5-of-7 performance from beyond the arc in Game 5 to help the Mavericks to a 30-point victory.

Without Kleber, however, Dallas will be forced to turn to one of its reserve big men to fill the minutes left behind by the Wurzburg, Germany, product. In the regular season, Kleber played over 20 minutes per game, meaning Luka Doncic and company will be missing one of their main rotation players in the next round.

"Well, it's the next man up, so we would love to be healthy, but Maxi's out, so there's nothing we can do. It's on to the next guy," Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said on Sunday. "Oklahoma's not a big team. ... We can look at (Markieff Morris), (Dwight Powell), PJ (Washington), we got quite a few bigs that we can go to, so we're not short on bigs."

At 34-years-old, Morris does offer the same veteran experience as Kleber, but played just 8.3 minutes in 26 games during the regular season. Morris didn't play at all in Round 1 for Dallas and appeared in just one game for less than four minutes while playing for the Miami Heat during their 2022 playoff run.

With Morris' age and size, he is not as versatile of a defender as Kleber, and would give the Thunder's offense an easy target when forced to play defense on the perimeter.

Like Morris, Powell wasn't much of a factor against the Clippers either, playing sparingly in Round 1. The 6-foot-10 center scored just two points in four appearances in the first round and only saw the court for more than four minutes one time.

While Powell is a decent lob finisher, he as good of a 3-point shooter as Kleber and would limit the Mavericks' floor spacing when he is in the game. Additionally, Powell would struggle to guard the Thunder's offense as he lacks the quickness to effectively defend players like Chet Holmgren consistently.

Washington will likely be the Mavericks' primary replacement for Kleber, as the 25-year-old wing is already a key piece of Kidd's rotation and offers a similar, versatile skill set to Dallas' injured big man.

At 6-foot-7, Washington has enough size to play against the Thunder, who frequently utilize smaller lineups. Washington is also a solid perimeter shooter and versatile defender who can guard different types of players.

Given his role within the Mavericks' system and how well he has performed defensively so far in the postseason, Washington seems like Kidd's best option to fill Kleber's role.

Whether Washington, Powell or Morris ends up playing in place of Kleber, the veteran stretch forward is a massive loss for the Mavericks as they head into the second against an Oklahoma City team that shoots the long ball very well.