No Cooper Flagg, Anthony Davis, or Kyrie Irving, yet the Mavericks battled to the end against the Knicks. A controversial late decision ruled out overtime, handing them another heartbreaking loss. This comes at a time when the franchise has redirected its focus since firing Nico Harrison. And somehow, the Knicks’ head coach, Mike Brown, might have assisted Mark Cuban.

Notably, with Cuban back as an advisor to Patrick Dumont, the Mavs are contemplating shifting their roster around. One of the names with doubts over their head is D’Angelo Russell. Dallas Hoops Journal claims that the Mavericks are considering trading Russell during the season. The former Lakers guard has had a sluggish start to the season. But Brown offered insight into how teams want to attack Russell.

“Gotta string some stops together that’s what it’s all about. We got to box out too. Box out. We good, we got to keep finding D’Lo,” Brown told his players in the huddle. It targets Russell as a weak defender. Against the Knicks, it was clearly Jalen Brunson who was listening closely to his head coach’s advice.

When matched up against the Mavericks guard, Brunson hit 3 of his five shots against him. Additionally, the Knicks didn’t fear D’Angelo Russell being a disruptor. None of the players committed any turnovers when guarded by the former All-Star guard. The revelation could ultimately see the Mavericks finding a trade suitor for the veteran star.

D’Angelo Russell is on a two-year $13 million deal with the Mavericks. While not enough value, if paired with Anthony Davis, the Mavericks could successfully achieve a roster overhaul. They clearly need something different, a rejuvenated sense of energy in the building. Hence, not just Russell, but players like Daniel Gafford and AD are also rumored for exits. The team is also planning to build around Cooper Flagg, making every piece on their roster aside from probably Kyrie Irving dispensable. Russell though, can’t be traded until December 15. That gives him enough time to change the Mavs’ minds.

And in hindsight, he might have started to do so already.

D’Angelo Russell could be really useful for the Dallas Mavericks

D’Lo may not be a Jrue Holiday defensively. But in the absence of any scoring pivot, he took the responsibility to score. He enjoyed arguably his best game against the Knicks, scoring 23 points to go with seven assists. In the absence of KAI, Davis and Flagg, the 29-year-old is the only skillful isolation scorer for the Mavericks.

He recorded a team-high +13 net differential tonight. Given, consistency has been an issue with Russell. However, stats prove that having him off the floor doesn’t really improve the Mavericks much defensively. Rather, their offense becomes even more predictable, recording a rating of just 100.5.

He and Brandin Williams are the only true point guards who can string plays together. Russell averages the highest assists for Dallas. With five assists against 2.4 turnovers, he has a positive impact when it comes to playmaking. At this juncture, the problem with the Mavericks really isn’t any single player or players. It’s basically health.

Not having Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving kills their spacing. Only two Mavs players are shooting over 35% from beyond the arc this season, and neither of them is Klay Thompson. Both AD and Irving can unsettle defenses, creating spacing opportunities for the team. Cooper Flagg is skilled, but still too young to be respected by defenders. If they do get healthy in time, the Mavericks could hope to make a late push.

However, no matter how you see it, D’Angelo Russell manages to bring some organization to a team that doesn’t really have a pecking order. It’s an unfair situation to evaluate his fit with the team. Yet, if the Mavericks could package him and get a bunch of players to make an immediate impact, that could be a fruitful exchange.