Mavericks face a heartbreaking trade reality they can't afford to ignore

Believe it or not, but the NBA is just 13 days away from the trade deadline, and multiple teams are scrambling to make in-season additions to either better position themselves for a playoff push or to focus on the upcoming offseason. For the Dallas Mavericks, they have multiple players who could be traded at the deadline, with Naji Marshall unfortunately being on that list due to his unreal play as of late.

Marshall has played amazingly to begin this season and continues to show why he is one of Dallas' best trade pieces, but with the team needing to focus on this summer's draft, Marshall continues to push for wins.

For the Mavericks, Marshall would not only garner them a valuable trade return, but it would also ensure that tanking and focusing on a better draft pick would be the remainder of the season's objectives.

Marshall is too good for the Mavs to keep if they are serious about tanking

Over the last season and a half, Marshall has become one of the Mavericks' best wing role players, but this season, he has taken another leap. Not only has Marshall proven that he can be a missing piece for a championship-level team, but for the Mavericks, Marshall's efforts keep resulting in wins as they are currently on a four-game winning streak.

This season, Marshall has averaged 14.5 points per outing, while also logging 4.7 rebounds per game on 54.8 percent shooting from the field. What makes these numbers even more impressive is the fact that they are continuing to rise, the better Marshall keeps playing.

For the Mavericks, their main focus should be on next year's draft and getting the absolute best pick possible to pair alongside Cooper Flagg. With Marshall playing so well, the team has continued to win games, but luckily for Dallas, Marshall's value is as high as it's ever been.

For a team wanting to push its chips all-in for an emerging star on a team-friendly contract, Marshall will be calling their name. For many of Dallas' trade assets, it's hard to see a world where a team would be willing to throw in draft capital on top of a young player still on his rookie contract, but the Mavericks may have that asking power with Marshall.

With how well Marshall has been playing this season and considering he is making less than $10 million annually, a team would need to give the Mavericks a valuable draft asset in return. It's hard to see the Mavericks getting a young asset in addition to a potential future first-round pick, but if a team is serious about wanting to contend, it wouldn't be out of the asking price for Marshall.

Marshall has always had a win-first mentality when it comes to his time in the league, and with his single-handedly turning some games around in the Mavericks' favor, it once again proves how coveted he could be around the league. Marshall might be one of the league's top players to get traded this deadline, and the Mavericks have all the power to demand draft capital as well as young talent in exchange for the versatile wing's presence.