Mavericks' new P.J. Washington gamble is a major mistake and it must end now

The NBA Playoffs have been in full swing with some exciting first-round matchups, but unfortunately, the Dallas Mavericks' season came to an end a little under two weeks ago when they lost to the Memphis Grizzlies in the Play-In Tournament. While the Grizzlies played the first-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder tight in a few of their games and superstar Ja Morant suffered a series-ending injury in Game 3 of that series, the Grizzlies ultimately got swept, and it's almost certain Dallas' fate would've been the same.

The Mavericks could've been a formidable threat in the postseason if Kyrie Irving was healthy, but Dallas simply doesn't have a playoff-caliber team without Irving's ball handling, shot creation, and playmaking. Even if Irving was healthy, Dallas still might be too deficient in those areas to call themselves a title contender unless they address those areas for improvement this coming offseason.

The Mavericks could look to the NBA Draft to find another shot creator or playmaker, or they could take the trade route, but the free agency avenue seems to be the least promising out of all three of these transactional windows due to Dallas' limited cap space and Irving's looming potential max contract.

Mavericks are relying on Washington's ball handling way too much

One place Dallas shouldn't look to address this issue is from within, as Dallas' end-of-season rotation with their ball handlers was granting too much leniency to P.J. Washington and others. Brandon Williams was easily Dallas' most trusted ball handler to end the season, and while Williams' ascension was one of the few positives from Dallas' season, he was practically the only true guard on the roster capable of handling the ball possession after possession post-Doncic trade.

Spencer Dinwiddie was decent at times, but his turnovers and inefficiency hindered his productivity this season, as his shot has to get going early for him to find his rhythm in a game, which didn't happen enough for him last season. Dallas traded their only other creator in Quentin Grimes at the deadline, and Jaden Hardy's guard skills haven't developed enough through three seasons to warrant a more expansive ball-handling role, leaving head coach Jason Kidd to funnel lots of Dallas' offense through Washington toward the end of the season.

Washington shot the ball at a high clip last season and showed improvement as a scorer in the post and in transition, but he averaged a career-high 2.1 turnovers per game last season and was forced to provide more for the Mavericks from a creation standpoint after the Doncic trade. Washington nearly had a 1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio on the season, as he'd often drive to the rim with no plan when he was being relied upon as a primary creator more later in the season, which would lead to terrible turnovers such as him getting stripped by a help defender or simply losing the ball out of bounds due to his lack of counters from a ball handling perspective.

There were some positives from Washington's increased ball handling experience, such as becoming more comfortable with his euro-step as well as his ability to use his strength to throw off defenders when decelerating to create space for little floaters. In the grand scheme of things though, Washington is a bigger-bodied wing who can definitely attack for the Mavericks off closeouts and in transition, or even one-on-one against weaker defenders, but he's not the level of ball handler Dallas treated him like last season.

Washington is a dynamic 3-and-D player, but he's best accentuated offensively in a complementary role alongside one or two tried-and-true shot creators, which Dallas didn't always have the luxury of putting on the floor toward the end of the season due to injuries. Washington himself isn't one of Dallas' main problems by any means, but the over-reliance on him to handle the ball and create offense for others is one of them, and the Mavericks can't wait until Irving comes back from injury to address this issue.