Mavericks Rookie Sergio De Larrea Exits Monday With Knee Injury

The Dallas Mavericks are going to have to finish their Monday night slate without their newest Spanish import. Sergio De Larrea left the game with a knee injury and has officially been downgraded to doubtful to return.

If you are wondering why a 20-year-old rookie is already getting banged up, just look at the tale of the tape. De Larrea is listed at 198 centimeters and 79 kilograms. For those of us who do not use the metric system, that is roughly 6-foot-6 and 174 pounds. He is built like a very tall marathon runner trying to survive in a league full of freight trains.

"Underdog NBA reported: 'Status alert: Sergio De Larrea (knee) doubtful to return Monday.'"

The Valladolid native has been showing some real flashes of brilliance early on. Dallas brought him in to form a Spanish connection with Santi Aldama, and while the skill is obviously there, the physical adaptation to the NBA is a completely different beast.

From a market perspective, losing a rookie guard mid-game is not going to crash the Mavericks spread the way a star injury would. But it absolutely scrambles the live rotation. Minutes have to go somewhere, which means secondary guards are suddenly going to see a spike in usage that live bettors and fantasy managers need to track.

For now, De Larrea is on ice for the rest of Monday night. The real question is what the medical staff says on Tuesday morning. If this knee issue lingers, Dallas will have to dig deeper into their bench while their rookie hits the weight room for a mandatory recovery period.