Remember when the Mavericks had such high hopes for their projected starting backcourt of Seth Curry and Dennis Smith Jr.?

Neither do they.

Seems like eons ago.

The news regarding both players was not good on Tuesday. As coach Rick Carlisle relayed information that Smith is going to miss the upcoming trip to Golden State and San Antonio, Curry was giving a none-too-optimistic timetable as to when he might play his first game this season.

As in, there is no timetable.

That the rookie Smith is going to miss two more games is not overly concerning. He has a strained adductor on his left side and typically those injuries require a little time to heal, but not a lot of time.

And the Mavericks have the luxury of depth at guard with Devin Harris and J.J. Barea.

But Curry's situation is becoming more and more confusing and frustrating to not only him, but fans.

He suffered a stress reaction in his left leg in the preseason and now has missed more than two months.

And he's not sure how much longer he's looking at.

"Not really," Curry said before Tuesday's game. "It's the same thing. I'm just trying to wait it out and see if it's going to heal or not. I've just got to give it some time. It's like a couple week by couple week situation. It's a tricky situation."

And if it doesn't heal?

"There's a chance, yeah," he said of the possibility of surgery at some point. "The path I'm on right now, the MRI shows it's gotten a little better. But there's a chance (he could need a procedure). It's a tricky situation and hard for me to say. It's very frustrating. Recovery-wise, I get out there and work out and feel OK, and it'll bother me the next day."

Most members of the organization don't think surgery will be an eventuality. It's viewed strictly as a last resort.

Curry, who is getting MRIs about once a month, said the latest pictures showed slight improvement. However, his history suggests that he take nothing for granted with the healing of his leg.

When he was at Duke, Curry had recurring shin problems in his right leg and eventually had surgery in his senior season. It was a primary reason why he was bypassed in the NBA draft in 2013.

This season is the last on the free-agent contract Curry signed before the 2016-17 season. Clearly, this is an important year for Curry as he will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

"I'm trying to slowly work my way back to going full go, where I'm not getting setbacks from workouts and jumping on it," he said. "That's the plan for now."

Meanwhile, Smith's absence puts a strain on the rest of the point guards as Carlisle tries to hold down the minutes of Harris and Barea.

So far in the three games Smith has missed, he's leaned heavily on Yogi Ferrell.

"We're going to make it work," Carlisle said. "The distribution of minutes is key. Yogi's early fouls in Milwaukee presented a problem because Barea was at almost 30 and Harris was in the mid-20s. We want to avoid running those guys up.

"Last year, we had a shortage of playmakers. This year, we had five or six coming into the season. Of course, Seth has been out and hasn't played a game. And now we're dealing with Dennis' absence, but Dennis is doing better. With the guys we have available, we're going to make it work."

For now, they have no other choice.

And they have to face the fact that Curry's return is not close.

Twitter: @ESefko