Kidd experiments with new Mavericks death lineup that should scare rest of NBA

After a hectic schedule over the past few weeks, the Dallas Mavericks schedule is a lot more relaxed at the start of this week, as the Mavericks secured a blowout victory over the Washington Wizards (6-39) on Monday night before they are set to take on the New Orleans Pelicans (12-35) this Wednesday. This will be a brief period of stability for the Mavericks before they go through another tough stretch right before the All-Star break, as all eight teams the Mavericks play after the Pelicans before the All-Star break are either a playoff team or are competing to be in the Play-In Tournament.

The Mavericks have recently experienced a ton of inconsistency in their rotation due to injury, which hasn't been ideal for Mavericks fans that were hoping to get a firm grasp on how good Dallas' rotation is, especially since we are nearly to the three-fifths mark of the NBA regular season. However, Dallas' lineup being depleted by injuries has granted the opportunity for end-of-the-bench reserves to get some more minutes, and it's also allowed for some unique lineups to be tried out by head coach Jason Kidd.

The Mavericks destroyed the Wizards in their recent contest against them, as Dallas rode the coattails of Klay Thompson's seven first-quarter 3-pointers en route to a win that saw six Mavericks score in double figures. With Dallas being up by so much in that game they had the ability to tinker with some lineups that they can use in more high-stakes scenarios, and one of which lineup featured P.J. Washington at the center position.

P.J. Washington at the five could destroy other teams

At nearly 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds, Washington certainly has the size to play small-ball five in select matchups for the Mavericks, as it would give Dallas the ability to play five-out and maximize spacing on the offensive end. Washington playing center alongside Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and two other 3-and-D wings could be a tantalizing lineup to deal with offensively if the Mavericks were to roll it out, and it's something worth considering once they get fully healthy.

We only saw a brief look at Washington playing center in Dallas' game versus the Wizards, but he possesses good roll-cut ability and has a great in-between game, so it's not hard to see how his skillset could work versus opposing big men on a more consistent basis. Washington is one of the more versatile defenders in the league and can anchor down on opposing centers and power forwards who are undersized or have a weight disadvantage, so Dallas wouldn't suffer from a defensive standpoint if they put Washington at the five against plenty of teams, though they obviously couldn't run this lineup against everyone.

After Dallas' recent victory over the Wizards, young wing Olivier-Maxence Prosper talked about the myriad of benefits the Mavericks could incur by playing Washington at the center position, and Prosper thinks Dallas may go to Washington at the five more often given some of their recent injuries.

"We can switch everything with P.J. at the five," Prosper said. "Now teams gotta adjust their game because they’re not used to that and they’re not used to wings who can actually slide and guard everybody…with the injuries we've had this is a lineup that you'll probably see more often, we’re at full confidence that we can guard anybody, regardless of if P.J. at the five."

Prosper's claims aren't baseless at all and Washington has played small-ball five in Charlotte, so given how depleted Dallas is at big man currently, we could definitely see more lineups with Washington playing center going forward. Obviously, these lineups will need to feature lengthy perimeter defenders that can help protect the rim and rebound, but the Mavericks may have the potential to accomplish that if young wings Kessler Edwards and Prosper continue to develop accordingly.