Mavericks' nightmare roster trap from last season just returned in a brutal way

This past offseason, the Dallas Mavericks re-signed Dante Exum to a one-year contract. However, the signing has already turned into a disaster due to Exum being shut down for the remainder of the season before even playing a game. Now, the Exum signing has hurt the Mavericks brutally from a team and management standpoint.

On November 20, it was announced that Exum will need season-ending knee surgery. However, even with needing another point guard for depth because of Exum's surgery, the Mavericks can't make any moves on the roster for over a month. The timing of it couldn't be worse for the Mavericks, and they're in a brutal bind.

ESPN's Bobby Marks tweeted about the Mavericks' issues they face with Exum being done for the season. The Mavericks have 15 players on their roster and would need to waive Exum to create another roster spot for a healthy player. However, because the Mavericks are hard-capped at the second apron, the team isn't allowed to sign a player until January 6. The 10-day contract window opens on January 5.

Mavericks are stuck waiting for a Dante Exum replacement

This shows that signing Exum was a huge mistake by former general manager Nico Harrison. The point guard position has been brutal all season, and those issues fall on Harrison. Now, the Exum signing just got worse with the Mavericks unable to make any moves with him until early January.

A similar issue happened in Dallas last season when they traded Quentin Grimes for Caleb Martin. Even though the Mavericks had an open roster spot following the trade deadline, they could only afford to sign Moses Brown to a 10-day contract. They took back more money than they sent out in the Martin-Grimes swap, and it came back to bite them.

Now, the Mavericks are in a similar spot again.

Not being able to sign another player will hurt the Mavericks at the moment, especially considering the team needs point guard play with Exum done for the year. Kyrie Irving is still recovering from his torn ACL, but D'Angelo Russell has been brutal this season. Russell's play and Exum's injury make the point guard position look worse for the Mavericks this season, and they underestimated how much Irving would be missed.

Exum's signing was for the veteran's minimum, which is good value, but they should've known that he would get injured again. If the Mavericks waive Exum when they're able to, it would help clear up some cap space to then try and sign another point guard to help replace him.

When Exum is healthy enough to play again, his Mavericks tenure may be done forever. Last season, Exum missed 62 games, along with this season's 82 games. Missing 171 games over his three-year Mavericks tenure, including this season, puts Dallas in a brutal position with the 30-year-old guard to heavily not consider re-signing Exum.

There is almost zero shot that he remains in Dallas beyond this season, and Mavericks fans will always remember him for his injuries rather than his play.

Dallas not being able to waive Exum and sign his replacement brings back nightmares from last season, and the injury bug is still buzzing around them.