Mavericks standout rookie is running into a costly problem

Ryan Nembhard is experiencing the NBA’s baptism by fire in a real way.

He was thrown headfirst into the starting lineup in late November, and now he’s just trying to keep his head above water. It was all good just a week ago. That's how fast things can change. The NBA is the epitome of a sink-or-swim league.

However, the Mavericks can’t afford for Nembhard to get lost in the shuffle. Not now. Not when they need him the most. But what Dallas really needs is for Nembhard to be more aggressive on the offensive end to help the team unlock its full potential.

Nembhard needs to be more aggressive on offense or risk being benched

The Mavericks have been in a tailspin, having lost five out of their last six games. The lone bright spot was a win against the Denver Nuggets and their perennial MVP candidate, Nikola Jokić. Cooper Flagg and Anthony Davis both scored 30-plus points in the thrilling 131-130 victory on December 23. Nemhard provided additional stability with 11 points and seven assists.

The formula was there. The trio had been set. The chemistry was bubbling like a well-thought-out science experiment that Jason Kidd and his acolytes had created in an underground laboratory. Then calamity struck.

Davis pulled up lame (the very next game) with a groin injury early in the second quarter of the Mavericks’ Christmas Day showdown against the Golden State Warriors. And the Mavericks have been in basketball purgatory ever since, to the tune of three straight losses versus Golden State, Sacramento, and Portland. But the most puzzling byproduct of all this is the inauspicious decline in Nembhard’s play.

Nembhard has only scored in double figures three times in the Mavs' past 10 games. Two of those double-figure games resulted in wins. And the one loss was in overtime. So the Mavericks tend to function better as a unit when Nembhard is a legit offensive threat who’s looking to score. This is the modern NBA game, where point guards are expected to be legit scoring options on the floor.

Two factors could be playing with Nembhard’s confidence and thought process right now. The emergence of Cooper Flagg on offense. And the rising minutes competition with backup point guard Brandon Williams.

Flagg has arrived. His 42-point explosion vs Utah in a December 15 overtime loss was the most ever scored by an 18-year-old in NBA history. He's lived up to the hype by averaging 23.5 points per game in December to the tune of 51.6 percent shooting from the floor and nearly 81 percent shooting from the charity stripe.

But there’s always a cost. And that cost may be losing an aggressive Nembhard who is more than willing to keep feeding the hot hand in Flagg or even Anthony Davis (when he’s healthy), since he is a past first point guard by nature.

But Nembhard’s loss has become his backup’s gain. Brandon Williams is flourishing all of a sudden in a real way. Coach Jason Kidd seems to be pleased with his output and has played Williams 30 minutes in back-to-back games against Golden State and Portland, in which he recorded 26 points and 22 points, respectively, on an extremely efficient 70 percent shooting combined from the field.

The ultra-quick guard is using his lightning first step and frenetic burst to create havoc in the paint and is finishing at the basket like the second coming of Kyrie Irving.

The downside to this is that Nembhard has averaged just 17 minutes per game in the last three games. And he capped off his last game by shooting zero for four from the field for zero points, even though he did manage six assists. Nembhard's confidence appears to be wavering somewhat. He might be overthinking it.

Nembhard may need to try to shoot for double-digit shot attempts (like Brandon Williams is doing) to help keep defenses honest. This would spread the floor and help to give Flagg and Davis a breather on certain possessions in the game. It also makes defenses wary of sending double teams when they know there is another scoring threat ready to capitalize on any mistake.

Being a point guard in today's NBA is a balancing act that would make a top-tier gymnast think twice. Keeping everyone involved on offense and at the same time making yourself a scoring threat is a lot to ask of Nembhard.

But it must be done if the Mavericks are to navigate the murky waters of Davis being in and out of the lineup or even traded by the deadline. There has to be consistency from players like Nembhard to counteract that uncertainty. It’s time for Nembhard to carpe diem. (seize the day!)