Mavericks’ prized acquisition has quietly vanished from the spotlight

The Dallas Mavericks' marquee free agency move of signing D'Angelo Russell has not worked out according to plan, and his role in Jason Kidd's rotation is slowly fading away a month and a half into the season.

There is still plenty of time for Russell to climb Kidd's depth chart and get some more minutes, but the fact that he is in trade rumors combined with his below-average play is not the best look. Nico Harrison's final big free agency signing as the general manager of the Mavs has not panned out by any means, and it doesn't look like he and Kidd were on the same page with this move at all.

Dallas signed Russell to a two-year, $11.7 million deal, and many fans believed that he'd be the perfect Kyrie Irving replacement while he recovers from his ACL tear. His 3-point shooting, playmaking, and experience led fans to think that he'd be the ideal candidate to run the Mavs' offense, but it quickly became evident that wasn't the case.

D'Angelo Russell's fit in Dallas is falling apart

Kidd didn't even start him at point guard on opening night, as he elected to go with Cooper Flagg instead. Russell only played 24 minutes in his first two games with the team, and his favor ran out before he even had the chance.

He has had some good moments, even earning the Mavs' starting point guard spot for a few games to help with shot creation duties, but his good performances don't come in bunches. One good game is typically followed by a quiet performance, and Kidd has even decided to bench him for multiple games.

While Russell is one of the more skilled passers on the team, his willingness to be the type of pass-first floor general that the Mavericks need comes and goes.

Some games, he makes multiple right reads in a row and looks to get the ball to his shooters on the perimeter. He has shown flashes of excellent passes this season, and has made some excellent feeds in transition and in the half-court, but it doesn't come often enough.

Russell often seems to hunt assists rather than being a steady hand and leader of the offense, and this is the last thing that you want from your veteran facilitator. The Mavericks have aspirations of making the playoffs this season after last season's disaster, and their chances of doing this aren't looking as promising as expected.

This was not what fans envisioned when they heard that Russell would be coming to Dallas on a two-year deal during the opening hours of free agency, and his regression over the last few years is a bit shocking. The one-time NBA All-Star has had the worst years of his career in back to back seasons, and with the Mavs looking to move on soon, it shows how much they may be regretting signing him in the first place.

Fans were fired up to bring a seasoned veteran into the mix to run the offense while Irving is out, before he would later transition into being the first guard off the bench, but neither one of those things will be coming true. It doesn't look like he will start another game for Dallas this season unless something bizarre happens, and he isn't even the first guard off the bench with Irving out.

Both Ryan Nembhard and Brandon Williams are ahead of Russell in the rotation, and it doesn't look like that will be changing anytime soon. Williams' speed and finishing, combined with Nembhard's passing and 3-point shooting, give the Mavericks an excellent, young option at point guard at all times, and Russell's heyday may be over.

The hype was real for D'Angelo Russell to come to Dallas to revive his career and get back on track, but he may have fallen out of the spotlight for good.