Jason Kidd may have secretly revealed which Maverick will be traded first

The Dallas Mavericks couldn't get out of their own way on Monday night once again, as Dallas suffered tremendously in clutch time once again in a 106-102 loss to the Miami Heat. Despite this, head coach Jason Kidd opted to close with Ryan Nembhard as Dallas' point guard. This move could be hinting at D'Angelo Russell being the first Maverick traded this season.

With Nico Harrison gone, the Mavericks have a committee at the head of Patrick Dumont's basketball department, which includes Kidd, Matt Riccardi, Michael Finley, and Mark Cuban. If Kidd has a say in trading Russell or keeping him, he'll likely opt to send him elsewhere.

Kidd clearly didn't trust Russell early in the season, as he played less than 24 minutes over his first two games combined, and he doesn't trust him now.

D'Angelo Russell may already be on the way out of Dallas

With Brandon Williams having a rough shooting game once again, it made Kidd's decision to keep running with Nembhard easier, given how solid he was facilitating. But Russell going 0-3 in 10 minutes contributed to Nembhard playing more as well. This was Nembhard's first game back from a knee sprain, and while Williams still started the third quarter, Kidd opted to run with Nembhard the rest of the way once he subbed him in for Williams, with Russell not playing the second half.

Nembhard's eight assists and playmaking chops were impressive in this game, and he was a part of the lineup that helped get Dallas back in the game. However, he still went 1-7 from the field and wasn't having a legacy game by any means. This proves Kidd may have Russell on the back burner of Dallas' rotation, especially since Nembhard is a two-way guy coming back from injury. Yet, he took all of Russell's second-half minutes, so Russell undoubtedly could be a prime trade candidate for Dallas.

It's highly unlikely the Mavericks trade Russell for at least a few more weeks, as most newly-signed free agents are unable to be traded in the new NBA season until December 15. But Russell's role in Dallas isn't looking how he and Harrison envisioned it would coming into the season, as Russell's played the most inconsistent ball of his career in Dallas so far.

There have also been rumors that Kidd and Harrison weren't in lockstep with many of the moves made over the past year or so in Dallas. Russell being benched in the second half of this game versus the Heat could potentially signal that his signing may have been one of the moves Kidd and Harrison disagreed with, so Russell's role in Dallas could be in jeopardy with Harrison gone now.

Even if the Mavericks want to trade Russell, it won't be easy to create a robust trade market for the 29-year-old guard, as Russell is shooting as inefficiently as he ever has in his career, only having a good offensive game every 4-5 games or so, and he's been a complete blackhole defensively for most of the season.

While it seemed like Russell was on somewhat of a bargain coming to Dallas on a one-plus-one deal via the Taxpayer's MLE, Russell is playing so badly that he will likely pick up his player option next season if he's still in Dallas past the trade deadline.

Nembhard certainly has the potential to become a starter in Dallas one day, but he's still largely unproven, so it's extremely concerning for Russell that he's losing minutes to Nembhard this early in the season. Especially since Nembhard is coming off an injury and Dallas isn't competitive currently at 5-14.