After parting ways with Luka Doncic last season, the Dallas Mavericks became the most intriguing team to look at. Adding the No. 1 draft pick, Cooper Flagg, solidified the notion. Thus, turning every head towards Texas. Because, let’s face it, without Kyrie Irving, everyone knew Jason Kidd would put out a laboratory to brew experiments. He did. Throwing the 18-year-old rookie in Kai’s position: point guard. Three games in, and Dallas is in trouble. Two consecutive losses and “Fire Nico” chants making a comeback? Oh boy! But come Sunday, Kidd’s doubtful rotation, D’Angelo Russell put the league on notice.

Dallas acquired D’Lo from the Brooklyn Nets this offseason as soon as he hit free agency. The team brought in the 2015 No. 2 overall draft pick to fill Kyrie’s void. However, he’s coming off the bench while Cooper and “undrafted two-way guy” Ryan Nembhard play more minutes, as Tim MacMahon pointed out on the latest edition of the Hoop Collective podcast. Interestingly enough, Sunday night emerged as a key piece for Coach Kidd & Co.

Russell missed his first seven shot attempts. But after drilling a buzzer-beating triple midway through the second quarter, he found the lost rhythm. “He’s making things happen. He ended up having 24 and six off the bench, and for a team that is just starved for creation and shooting, I think it’s hard not to play the guy,” MacMahon said. Now, D’Lo hasn’t been the most efficient guard on the team, and one might also understand why Jason Kidd might’ve been skeptical about playing him. “But you don’t have a whole lot of guards on this roster who are available, and certainly, you don’t have a guard in the starting lineup,” the ESPN analyst added.

Meanwhile, Tim Bontemps chipped in. He said, “We’ve talked about that…the Cooper Flagg experiment at point guard is what they should be doing for the long term. But to not play him, given their lack of creation, doesn’t make any sense.” According to Bontemps, it’s fine to bench D’Lo when he’s off, but he can also catch fire on certain nights. Given the Mavs’ weak perimeter shooting, they need to keep him in rotation for those hot stretches.

Bontemps further emphasized, “They don’t have a lot of shot creation really on the team. So he probably should be a six-man guard anyway. Have him come in and do that, and he’ll be able to win them a few games this year by doing what he did tonight. It won’t be the only time that he does it. He was very good in that game.”

Given D’Angelo Russell’s big night at AAC, the Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd also couldn’t keep his eyes off D’Lo. He indeed played a big role in the Mavs’ 139-129 win against the Toronto Raptors. Thus, speaking with the media after the game, the coach made his feelings clear.

Coach Kidd gave his verdict on D’Angelo Russell’s contribution in Dallas’ win

What did Jason Kidd get from D’Angelo Russell on Sunday? “I think at his best being able to playmake, score, and then find guys. I thought he did a great job not just on the offensive end, but also on the defensive end,” the coach told the media.

D’Lo turned chaos into control as the Mavericks stormed past the Raptors 139-129. After missing his first seven shots, he caught fire with a buzzer-beating three that changed the night for them. From there, he piled up 24 points on 8-of-18 shooting, including 2-of-7 from deep and 6-of-8 from the line, adding five rebounds, six assists, and three steals. By the end, his spark, swagger, and shot-making sealed Dallas’ win, and possibly his spot in Kidd’s trust circle.

Thus, D’Angelo Russell walked into the storm and left it singing his tune. The boos turned to cheers, and the doubts melted into applause. Jason Kidd’s experiment finally sparked life, and Dallas found rhythm in the chaos. The message was loud: give the man the ball, and he’ll write his own story. If this was a glimpse of what’s ahead, the Mavs may have just unlocked a beautiful kind of madness.