Mavericks can finally end their free agency nightmare next month

On December 15, the Dallas Mavericks can finally trade D'Angelo Russell if they decide to head down that path.

December 15 marks the day that teams across the league can trade players who were signed to new contracts over the summer, and Dallas may be all over a Russell trade if the right deal presents itself. Russell's time with the Mavericks has been a disaster, as he has gone from a starter to a bench warmer and everything in between over the first quarter of the season, and both sides would likely prefer a fresh start.

Dallas knew that filling their hole at point guard while Kyrie Irving recovered from a torn ACL was going to be their biggest offseason task, and Nico Harrison determined that Russell was going to be their guy to do that. He was their only new free agency addition over the offseason, and it quickly became evident that his time with the Mavericks was going to be shaky.

Dallas can trade D'Angelo Russell soon

For starters, he only played 24 minutes over the first two games of the season after many fans expected him to start or at least receive starter minutes. It was quickly clear that Harrison and Kidd were not in lockstep when it came to the Russell signing, and this has become even clearer as the season has progressed.

Before Harrison was fired, Russell was averaging 21.1 minutes per game over 11 contests, and even started in three games. He was at least playing in every game, and seemed like one of the few players who could actually get the offense to function at an average level. Russell showed some positive flashes during this time, including a 31-point game against the Detroit Pistons, but his role has changed significantly ever since.

Over the last two weeks, Russell has been a DNP-CD twice, and it seems like Kidd's trust in him has completely disintegrated. Kidd elected to start Ryan Nembhard over Russell in one of the biggest games of the year against the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this weekend, and he didn't even touch the floor in either one of Dallas' back-to-back games in LA.

Russell's time in Dallas has truly been a disaster, and they can officially try to flip the page in just over two weeks. His inconsistency, poor shot selection, and poor defense have made his Mavericks journey a struggle, and he doesn't look like the player that many fans were hoping that they were getting.

The Mavericks may struggle finding a trade partner for Russell, as he is in the first year of a two-year, $11.9 million deal, and paying around $6 million for someone who can be unplayable at times is a major risk. He may be a decent fit on a rebuilding team that just needs someone to set up the offense, but the narrative that he doesn't impact winning very much has only been confirmed in Dallas.

They highly underestimated how badly they were going to miss Irving for the first half of the season, and expecting Russell to pick up all of his slack was a major mistake by Harrison. Dallas clearly should've traded for a guard to help fill this hole, and they are paying for this misstep by being the No. 12 team in the Western Conference with a 6-15 record.

The Mavericks' fiasco with Russell was all predictable, but they decided to roll the dice and sign a player who was coming off the worst season of his career. This has considerably hindered Dallas' progress this season, and they can officially get rid of Russell on December 15.