Maverick who quickly earned Kidd's trust is about to lose playoff eligibility

The Dallas Mavericks' brutal stretch of losing continued on Sunday afternoon against the Philadelphia 76ers, as the team lost 130-125 and fell to 33-36 on the year. Dallas has now lost 10 of their last 12 games, and this season truly feels like it's cursed.

They can't catch a break as injuries continue to pile up, with the most recent player to go down for the season being Dante Exum as he fractured a bone in his hand on Friday night against the Houston Rockets. With so many injuries, some Mavericks players are getting much more playing time than expected, and many of them are making the most of it, proving they could deserve a bigger role once the team is healthy (whenever that may be).

Brandon Williams is one of those players who is seeing an increased role recently, and he has been phenomenal. In March, Williams is averaging 20.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 59.1 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from downtown, and he has earned the trust of Jason Kidd during this injury-plagued stretch.

Brandon Williams' playoff fate is in question despite breakout

While Kidd doesn't have much of a choice right now to play Williams or not due to injuries, it seems like Williams is someone who he admires, as he was always patient for his opportunity and has been one of Dallas' few bright spots amid this dark stretch.

While Williams has been amazing in his minutes and looks like someone who could stick around in Dallas beyond this year with the way he has stepped up recently, his season could be coming to an end before anyone realizes. Williams is on a two-way deal, and since he has now been active for 45 games, he can only play in five more games this season.

The Mavs could explore signing Williams to a standard contract on April 10, but if they don't do that, he will unfortunately be ineligible for the playoffs. Dallas currently holds a 1.0 game lead over the Phoenix Suns for the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference, and considering how hard Phoenix's remaining schedule is, the Mavericks have a great shot at making the Play-In Tournament.

Not having Williams for the postseason would be a major blow, regardless of Dallas' slim chances of making a run or getting out of the play-in, and this issue dates back to the Mavericks' trade deadline moves that left them hard capped at the first apron. After the Quentin Grimes trade, the Mavs could only sign one player to a 10-day deal (Moses Brown), and Dallas could have been able to sign Williams to a standard deal while signing another player to a two-way deal if they didn't make that trade.

This would have made things much easier on Kidd when it comes to roster management, as he would have had one more player to work with, and the Mavericks are in an extremely tough position over this final month of the season. Along with Williams, Kessler Edwards is also approaching his 50-game limit, and he is someone who would be ineligible for the playoffs as well if the Mavs don't convert him to a standard contract.

It seems most likely that Williams or Edwards will be on a standard deal by the end of the season, allowing them to play in the playoffs, but time is quickly running out on their two-way deals. Not having one of them for the Play-In Tournament would be crushing when taking into account how big their roles are right now, and time will tell who Nico Harrison decides to sign.