Mavericks face a brutal D'Angelo Russell crisis only a trade will fix

Jason Kidd has gotten to the point that he refuses to play D'Angelo Russell, even during blowouts, and it seems like the only way for both sides to move on would be to trade him. The Dallas Mavericks have been shopping multiple veterans this season, including Russell, and it looks like it's time to move on.

The Mavericks signed D'Angelo Russell on the opening night of free agency with the hope that he could be the stopgap guard that they desperately needed until Kyrie Irving made his return. Irving has missed the entire season with an ACL tear, and the Mavericks envisioned Russell as someone who could lead the charge while he was out and play alongside him once healthy.

Mavericks fans praised this signing, as he is making less than $6 million annually, but it didn't take long for this move to go bad. Russell was barely playing from the jump (less than 24 minutes combined over his first two games), and now, Kidd won't even play him at all.

D'Angelo Russell has become a non-factor in Dallas

In a 144-122 win over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night, Russell played zero minutes. The Mavericks were without Max Christie, Anthony Davis, Dante Exum, Kyrie Irving, Dereck Lively II, and Moussa Cisse in this game, and he didn't play a single second.

Dallas even signed Jeremiah Robinson-Earl to a 10-day contract yesterday, and he played 22 minutes against Utah. Kidd's decision not to play Russell at all, even in extreme circumstances, is puzzling, and Mavericks fans are beginning to wonder what's going on.

This isn't to say that Russell should be playing big minutes every night, as his defense and fit have always been questionable, but getting completely removed from the rotation is not normal. He has now been a DNP-CD for six of the last seven games, and the Mavericks aren't doing themselves any favors when it comes to his trade value by benching him.

Russell has been in trade rumors for months now, and the fact that Kidd views him as unplayable signals how bad things have truly gotten. No team is going to want to take on his contract without him proving that he is capable of being in an NBA rotation, and the Mavs have stripped him of the chance to do that.

He has had some good moments for Dallas this season, including a 31-point game and four games of 20+ points, but all of the positives will get overshadowed by his shortcomings. Over the last month, he has only played in five games and 69 total minutes. He was inactive one game, and benched in all of the rest.

The Dallas Mavericks are at a point of no return with D'Angelo Russell, and the only way to fix this would be to send him packing.