It's time for the Mavericks to unleash untapped youngster who has nothing to lose

Over the last five games, Dallas Mavericks second-year guard AJ Johnson has seen his role go from a real rotation piece to an end-of-the-bench guy in a flash. He has played a total of just 11 minutes over these five games, and in two of them, he didn't even touch the court. This has to change over the final month of the season.

Johnson's diminished role is largely due to Dallas getting healthy, as everyone on the roster is healthy outside of the two players out for the rest of the season (Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively II), but it's time for Jason Kidd to unleash Johnson once again.

Inside AJ Johnson's up-and-down Mavericks stint

Dallas isn't pushing for a playoff spot by any means, as they've lost 18 of their last 21 games, and development for players like Johnson is extremely important right now. Kidd and the Mavericks have to make the most of the situation they're in, and with their need to tank in order to secure better lottery odds, playing Johnson more minutes makes sense.

Through 12 games as a Maverick, Johnson has not been as exciting as fans hoped after seeing that he was included in the Anthony Davis trade. The 6-foot-5 explosive guard has shown some flashes, including an 11-point performance against the Sacramento Kings without missing a shot, but these types of games have been far and in between.

Johnson's struggles have been impossible to ignore, as he's shooting 29.7 percent from the field and 11.8 percent from downtown as a Maverick. It doesn't help that he's only playing 9.3 minutes per contest, and now only plays during garbage time, but he hasn't made a major impact on winning since arriving with Khris Middleton and Marvin Bagley III last month.

Why Jason Kidd must give AJ Johnson a chance now

The good news for him, though, is that Dallas doesn't need to be winning games right now.

Teams that are deadlocked in the lottery standings, like the Mavericks, should be tanking the final month of the season to develop their young players and flip the page to the following season, but Dallas hasn't done this yet. Despite not winning much over the last month and a half, they haven't started tanking.

Trading Anthony Davis and shutting down Kyrie Irving for the season aren't win-now moves, but Dallas hasn't shown any deliberate signs that they're tanking just yet. But with 16 games to go, now might be the time to start — and this could start with giving AJ Johnson a role once again.

For the most part, Dallas knows what they have in their veterans. Daniel Gafford is playing well after months of up-and-down play, Khris Middleton has been incredible off the bench, and Naji Marshall looks like he'll be a staple in the rotation once again next season.

The Mavericks are who they are at this point, and Kidd should use the last stretch of the season to evaluate the young talent that he has. From John Poulikidas to Tyler Smith to Ryan Nembhard to Moussa Cisse and AJ Johnson, Kidd has plenty of youngsters to experiment with to see if they deserve a spot in his rotation (or on the roster) next season.

Johnson is only 21 years old, and his athletic tools and defensive upside are too promising to completely overlook. The first two seasons of his NBA career haven't gone as expected, but Dallas has to at least give him a chance to show if he belongs or not.

He could be the type of player that brings energy and backcourt defense off the bench, especially if he hones in on his jump shot, and Mavericks fans have seen short glimpses of this already.

Unleashing Johnson to evaluate his value, and help the tank, would be in Dallas' best interest to end the season, and their lottery odds could end up depending on it.