MINNEAPOLIS - As forgotten men go on the Mavericks, you have Seth Curry, of course. He's been out all season with a leg injury. And to a lesser extent, Dorian Finney-Smith, who has missed nearly a month with a quad/knee problem.

But the Maverick you likely haven't heard anything about is Josh McRoberts.

That's something he plans on changing at some point. He's just not sure when.

McRoberts, if you've forgotten, is the 6-10 Duke product who is in his 11 th NBA season. He was acquired in July from Miami, along with cash believed to be about $5-million in exchange for A.J. Hammons.

The idea was to clear Hammons' contract off the books for this coming summer's free-agent pursuits. McRoberts is on the final year of his deal signed in 2014 that pays him a shade over $6-million this season.

So in essence, the Heat are paying most of his contract and took on Hammons' $1.5-million next season.

McRoberts is intent on proving that his presence in Dallas is about more than just a franchise-friendly contract situation.

This is a guy who averaged 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 2013-14, which he parlayed into the current contract.

So far, he's made progress with his left foot to the point where he can do one-on-one drills with coaches.

His injury has been listed as a "lower extremity injury," which sounds kind of ominous.

So we asked, what exactly is a lower extremity injury?

"Umm, well, it's pretty ambiguous," McRoberts said. "Basically, it's just my foot having been broken three different times. That's pretty much what it is. I'm trying to get my foot healthy and feeling good and get it to a place where Casey (Smith, athletic trainer) and the staff feel comfortable with where we're at to be able to get out on the court and stay out on the court and not have any setbacks."

That sounds reasonably ambitious, which is a big difference from where McRoberts has been for the past couple years. His big toe has been a problem since 2012 when he was a Laker and the break he suffered a couple years later started this "lower extremity" chain reaction.

By favoring the toe when he returned, he suffered breaks in his second, third and fourth metatarsals.

"It all stems from the big toe and not having movement," he said. "What we've been able to do here is get a lot more movement into my big toe and I think that's going to help the rest of my foot."

And so, he's played just 81 of a possible 272 games over the last three-plus seasons.

McRoberts doesn't want fans to get the wrong impression. His return is not imminent. But the next step, which is getting back to practice, is something he hopes happens fairly soon.

"I'm encouraged by the progress I've made since I've been here in Dallas," he said. "I see the light at the end of the tunnel, which is good, because there have been times throughout the last three or four years when I haven't always seen that light. So I guess things are improving and I'm getting better."

Asked if there was any doubt about whether or not he'd play in games this season, he said: "No doubt, no doubt."

Because of the injuries, McRoberts has a decent amount of mileage on his legs. But he's certain there still are some good years left in his tank.

The question is whether the Mavericks will benefit from that. He's a big man who can orchestrate the offense, which would give them a different look if he can get on the court.

"I'd love to tell you a date, but it's something I couldn't say with any certainty," he said. "It's up to when they think I'm ready to get out there and give it a try. I'm pushing to (start practicing). That's obviously the next step to getting back to the court. Hopefully that's within the next week or so when we get back home. I feel like I'm getting closer."

In the misery-loves- company department, McRoberts has talked with Devin Harris and some of the same specialists who worked on Harris' problematic foot, on which he needed multiple surgeries to fix a bone problem.

"It's no fun to go through," Harris said. "All you can do is give it time and make sure you're healed."

Harris fought the foot problem for two years but has been a solid producer the past two seasons for the Mavericks.

"I can kind of relate to him," McRoberts said. "It gives me a little bit of hope that he fought it that long and he's out there playing now at a high level. I'm hoping to follow in that."

Briefly: The Mavericks finish up their three-game road trip Sunday at 6 p.m. against the Timberwolves. They already have lost twice to the Wolves this season ... Dennis Smith Jr. (left hip) joins Seth Curry, Dorian Finney-Smith, Nerlens Noel and McRoberts as out ... The Wolves likely will be without backup swingman Nemanja Bjelica (foot).

Twitter: @ESefko