Mavericks fans must avoid falling for Jason Kidd's latest starting lineup mind trick

The Dallas Mavericks kick off preseason action tomorrow night against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Fort Worth at Dickie's Arena, but Mavs fans must avoid falling for a notorious Jason Kidd lineup tendency that he teased the other day during training camp. Kidd said that Dallas tinkered with a lineup that included Ryan Nembhard, Cooper Flagg, P.J. Washington, Anthony Davis, and Dereck Lively II, and while Nembhard does look like he has the skills to play as a rookie, Mavs fans shouldn't bank on him being the real starter, or even an every-night player, during the regular season.

As things stand now, Nembhard is on a two-way deal, meaning that he can only be active for 50 regular-season games, and even if he does start tomorrow against the Thunder, it likely won't persist into the season. It seems like D'Angelo Russell will be the team's starting point guard, especially if he has a productive preseason, and fans can't think too much into what Kidd says during media availability before the season even begins.

Kidd started Olivier-Maxence Prosper in his first preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Abu Dhabi in 2023, causing Mavericks fans to believe that he was going to have a real role as a rookie.

Mavericks fans shouldn't expect too much from Nembhard just yet

Prosper had tons of hype before even playing a game for Dallas, but it quickly became evident that he wasn't ready to be a role player for the Mavs in his first season. His skills weren't NBA-ready, and this ultimately led to him getting waived this summer.

Prosper and Nembhard are nowhere close to the same player, and Nembhard's playmaking, ball handling, and IQ make him look like a lock to at least play some as a rookie, especially while Kyrie Irving is sidelined, but it's going to be an uphill battle for him to get playing time.

Nembhard has Russell, Dante Exum, and Brandon Williams to beat out to join Kidd's rotation, and this isn't going to be easy. Kidd hyped up Russsell all training camp long while they were in Vancouver, and Williams enters next season after playing the best basketball of his career at the end of last season.

The Mavs' backcourt is quietly much deeper than anyone gives them credit for, and this will be even more true once Irving returns from his ACL tear. Nembhard could find himself being a key component of this backcourt room, as his passing will be special immediately, but fans should pump the brakes when analyzing Kidd's comment about a lineup that they tried out during training camp in Vancouver.

Kidd has always done a great job of praising his players, as he is the definition of a players' coach, but fans should temper their expectations about Nembhard and his role in Dallas until they see him play a game. Nembhard could prove that he deserves a shot at cracking the rotation as soon as tomorrow if he balls out against Oklahoma City, but it isn't a lock by any means.