Dallas Mavericks' guard dilemma primed for a shocking decision

The Dallas Mavericks have one of the best problems in sports that every coach dreams of.

A surplus of depth.

Jason Kidd is already going to have to decide between Daniel Gafford and Derek Lively II for the starting center spot. Although both of those bigs will play big minutes regardless of who starts, the same can't be said about Dallas' trio of point guards off the bench.

Jason Kidd will have to bench Hardy, Exum, or Dinwiddie

When Luka Doncic and or Kyrie Irving needs a breather and Dallas needs a different ball handler to run the second unit, Kidd is going to have three options. Each guard has a unique playstyle from the others, and one of them will likely get left out of the rotation completely.

Jaden Hardy, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Dante Exum.

Two of those players will likely be in the rotation. One will not.

All three of these players are good enough to play real minutes for Dallas, and they've also each had dominant stretches with the Mavs at different points in their careers.

Dinwiddie was elite for the Mavs in the 2022 NBA Playoffs and started 60 regular season games.

Exum was an excellent spot starter last season and was the best shooter on the team off the catch.

Hardy was a great role player for Dallas during the 2024 Western Conference Finals.

Each player has shown that they can fill this role off the bench valiantly, but there won't be enough minutes for all of them. It also doesn't help that they are each in a contract year and need to perform well to receive a nice payday next summer.

To start, it would be shocking if Dinwiddie is left out of the rotation. He wouldn't have chosen to sign with the Mavs over the Los Angeles Lakers if he wasn't going to have a role here, and he has proved the most out of anyone in this group.

That brings it down to Exum and Hardy.

Exum is a better defender and better shooter off the catch but Hardy has more potential and is only 22 years old. Hardy is also a much better scorer and played better than Exum in the playoffs last season.

Exum was nearly unplayable for most of the playoffs due to his seeming lack of confidence while Hardy thrived in the later rounds and showed off his growth as a playmaker. He still hasn't fully proved that he can make all of the reads necessary to be a trusted point guard, but his growth in that area is undeniable.

Both players have something to prove, as Exum could be fighting to stay in the NBA if he doesn't perform well this season and Hardy will be looking for his first big contract in the NBA. Both of them are too good to be sitting on the bench all season, and Dallas could explore a trade at the deadline to get one of them in a better situation.

It's hard to prove your worth without getting real minutes, and both of them will be clawing for playing time in this crowded rotation.

Will Kidd end up betting on the potential of Hardy? Can Exum return to being the player he was during the regular season last season? Will Dinwiddie be the solidified sixth man or will he get passed in the rotation?

All of these questions will be answered next season, and Kidd is going to have a hard decision to make when it comes to which one of these players won't be in his rotation. No one would have expected that any of these three players would be benched at this point in their careers, but there's no better dilemma to have than having too much depth.