With his left arm suspended at an angle in a sling that isn't the least bit comfortable when it comes to sleeping, eating or almost anything else, J.J. Barea has a tough time zeroing in on Basketball.
Oh, he still thinks about when his next appearance on a Basketball court will be. He's holding out hope that in late August, he can play for the Puerto Rican national team in the FIBA Americas tournament, the qualifier for the 2010 World Championships. Before that, there are a lot of intermediate steps: getting out of that confounded sling next week, starting rehabilitation, then rebuilding strength in the surgically repaired shoulder before finally starting Basketball drills.
"It's going to be a different type of summer for me,'' he says.
He started with a couple of visits this week to Mavericks hoop camps presented by Academy Sports & Outdoors. He talked and mingled with 150 kids at camps in Collin County and in Mesquite.
Most of them wanted Barea to prove he could dunk. But that will have to wait because the injury that bugged him the second half of the season was worse than first thought. Coach Rick Carlisle says it was remarkable that the part-time starting guard made it through the season without having the shoulder completely pop out of socket. Exams after the season revealed a significant tear in the ligament.
Doctors stitched it up and the shoulder should be as good as new before training camp in late September, although Barea's not looking forward to eight-to-10 weeks of rehab. If he can get back on the Basketball court by mid-August, Barea wants to play for his national team in the Americas tournament.
"If I'm completely healthy, I'll play. If not, I won't play. There's a chance," he said. "It's to qualify for the world championships and it's in Puerto Rico. So I'd love to play at least a couple games in front of my family and friends. But if I'm not 100 percent, I won't play. I don't want this to bother me next year.''
Barea is coming off his third NBA season, all with the Mavericks , and by far his best. He averaged 7.8 points and 3.4 assists in 79 games (15 starts).
Along with the rehab, this summer is different for Barea in another way. He has contract security. He is signed through 2011.
Briefly: The Mavericks opened mini-camp Thursday and had to push it back a couple hours because several players couldn't get into town because of the storms that pushed through in the morning. Some never made it at all. ... Shan Foster, the Mavericks' second-round pick last season who played in Europe, and JaJuan Smith, one of the last cuts before last season, are in the camp.
