Mavericks have a crucial roster decision to make and time is running out

The Dallas Mavericks have to strengthen their backcourt around Kyrie Irving next season, and they're running out of time to evaluate their two top in-house options for backup point guard. Both Brandon Williams and Ryan Nembhard have huge summers ahead, and the final four games of the season will be massive for the coaching staff to get final looks at these players before the offseason.

The last four games need to be tryouts for Dallas' backup point guard

Williams is set to hit unrestricted free agency after this season, and with the way he's playing lately, he's pricing himself right out of Dallas. He's averaging 13.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 0.9 steals per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the field, proving that he has what it takes to be a strong backup point guard in today's NBA.

While his 3-point shooting has plummeted after shooting 40 percent from long range last season, he has made up for this deficiency everywhere else.

His finishing, mid-range shooting, and playmaking have all improved, and his work with Kyrie Irving over the last few years is definitely paying off. People from around the Mavericks organization commonly refer to Irving as Williams' mentor, and continuing to grow under one of the most skilled guards in NBA history would be a great next step for him.

He has picked up on Irving's moves and intensity, and his improvement helped him earn the first standard contract of his career after last season. Now, this summer, Dallas has to determine whether they want to give him another contract.

Williams isn't the only point guard fighting for a future in Dallas

The Mavericks' other table-setter, Nembhard, has had an excellent season as well. He's averaging 6.2 points and a rookie-leading 4.9 assists per game while shooting 40.9 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from downtown. His playmaking and feel for the game are well beyond his years, and his connection with Cooper Flagg has been strong since before Summer League.

Despite this, definitely taken a back seat to Williams recently.

Even though he's started 24 games earlier this season, Nembhard's role has shrunk some as of late. He's averaging just 18.3 minutes per game since March 1, while Williams is playing 21.9 minutes per game in this same range. This includes a DNP-CD for Nembhard in the Mavericks' last game against the Los Angeles Lakers, in which Williams played 25 minutes and finished with 13 points and five assists.

This was likely due to the Lakers just being a bad matchup for the 5-foot-11 Nembhard, given that they didn't play a single player under 6-foot-5 more than 10 minutes. The Lakers would've attacked him on defense, and Jason Kidd decided to use Williams and Flagg as his key ball handlers.

This is where the Mavericks reach a crossroads that they need to figure out quickly.

And then there was one

With Irving already being an undersized guard, they may not have room on the roster to keep both Nembhard and Williams. Williams is 6-foot-1, while Nembhard is under six feet, and Dallas has to make a decision here.

Their choice could ultimately determine how well they perform next season, as their guard depth has been one of their biggest problems all season. Irving's return, along with a potential guard drafted in the lottery, will help, but they need options behind them as well.

Nembhard is under contract through the end of next season, but he has a team option after this season. If the Mavericks want to re-sign Williams while letting Nembhard walk, they could decline his team option.

But the easier option may be to pick up Nembhard's team option and not give Williams another contract. This would be a major blow for Dallas given how big of an impact he's made this season, but they may look to spend their money elsewhere in free agency.

He has played himself into a sizeable contract after putting together a full season of solid play off the bench, and he deserves to be rewarded for this. It remains to be seen whether this will be in Dallas or elsewhere, and the Mavericks need to give them each significant playing time over the last few games.