Maxi Kleber is becoming unplayable for the Dallas Mavericks

It's been a while since we've seen Maxi Kleber consistently put up a night like he did against the Phoenix Suns last month.

That night on December 27 when Naji Marshall got ejected for his dispute with Jusuf Nurkic, Kleber put up 15 points and looked confident shooting the basketball. It seemed like he was more comfortable shooting with a bunch of other Mavericks out, and he was in a groove that has been rare to see from him this season.

Since that night, he's continued to play major minutes but it's not making up for his inefficient offense with the Mavericks now suffering four straight losses.

It's fair to say that without Marshall, Kyrie Irving, and Luka Doncic, it's tougher for all the guys to score considering how great each of them is at creating open looks for their teammates, but Kleber's play at least deserves to be talked about ahead of an important deadline.

Kleber's timid offensive performances are hurting the Mavs

Between 2019-2022, Kleber was playing big minutes and starting in lots of games for the Mavs. During those three seasons, he started in 82 games collectively. He looked like a real threat on both sides of the ball. In the 2019-20 season, he was playing his best basketball, averaging 9.1 points and 1.1 blocks per game. He was an elite floor-stretching big who could switch on defense and knock down open shots, and he looked like he was going to develop into a great piece in Dallas for years to come.

From all of those injuries dating back from 2022 until today, it seems something has changed, and not for good.

This season, Kleber is averaging 2.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, both career-low numbers.

Kleber's offensive performances have not been consistent from years past. He's pretty much become a defensive specialist by playing solid, clean defense in the paint against the opposing bigs, but even his defense isn't enough to warrant playing him consistently.

It's not an easy thing at all to ask someone to do the dirty work on defense, but Kleber's offensive timidness has been hard to watch. Shooting the ball is emphasized in this day and age of basketball, and for Kleber not to be even attempting the same shots as he did many years ago, the question of Kleber being trade bait has risen considering that it has already been rumors that they are looking to move him.

We've seen Jason Kidd give Kleber plenty of minutes, even near the end of close, tight games. His defense should be rewarded as someone who can pick up the slack to make defensive plays. However, his style of play worked four years ago because of his balanced play on both ends of the ball.

Kidd has been able to trust Kleber over the young Olivier-Maxence Propser because of his experience in doing the dirty work on defense and his size. Despite it looking like Kleber has the edge now, that gap is beginning to close if Prosper continues to improve.

There's no doubt that Mavs fans have loved Kleber over the years for his hard work and competitive nature. He'll never lose that image. However, his inefficient offensive play will be a concern as we head into February.

He is shying away from letting it fly from downtown, and this used to be one of the most impactful parts of his game. His awkwardness on the offensive end is making him unplayable despite what he brings on defense, and it'll be interesting to see if the Mavs stick with him moving forward.