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A little before midnight Monday, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas morning news put out a story mentioning that DeAndre Jordan might be missing the Maverick trip to China. Sefko is one of the few media members to make the trip across the world with the Mavericks and Jordan was not on the plane. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon confirmed both DeAndre’s absense and the reason a few hours later:
DeAndre Jordan did not make the trip to China with the Mavericks due to a death in the family. Harrison Barnes (hamstring) also did not make the trip.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) October 2, 2018
With both DeAndre Jordan and Harrison Barnes not making the trip, paired with Dirk Nowitzki ailing due to an ankle injury, the Mavericks will be without three of their top six rotation players for the pre-season.
This means more minutes for both Salah Merji and Dwight Powell. Powell missed the preseason opener with knee soreness, but in the days since we’ve heard nothing regarding his availability. Maxi Kleber could also see some time at center. The Mavericks may also simply decide to play small ball against the 76ers for both games.