5 Things Jason Kidd must fix in the Dallas Mavericks' rotation

After losing four out of their last five games, it's become readily apparent that the Dallas Mavericks need to make some adjustments if they have any hope of making a substantial run in this year's playoffs. The Mavericks have struggled defensively recently despite their trade deadline acquisitions of P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford.

With Dallas being equipped with a much more talented defensive personnel than before the trade deadline, Jason Kidd has been the scapegoat for many Mavericks' fans in regards to Dallas' continual defensive and rotational struggles.

It's obvious that the Mavericks players have to live up to expectations on the court as well, as Dallas' recent struggles can't be solely attributed to head coach Jason Kidd's rotation or tendency to overextend minutes to certain players.

5 Things Jason Kidd must fix in the Dallas Mavericks' rotation

However, Dallas has to do anything they can to put themselves in a position to contend ahead of the playoffs when you take into consideration the draft capital that they've relinquished the past two trade deadlines, as well as the fact that Kyrie Irving only has one more guaranteed year under contract with Dallas beyond this season.

With that being said, here are five things that Jason Kidd must fix within the Mavericks rotation.

5. Dante Exum's minutes

Whilst Dante Exum has only played in three games since returning from right knee bursitis, the Mavericks and Jason Kidd have to figure out ways to better implement him into Dallas' rotation. Exum has played sparingly in the three contests he's appeared in since returning from injury, and his impact on the court has been a far-fetch compared to what it was during December when he was playing heavy minutes for Dallas.

It would be unrealistic for the Mavericks to expect Exum to return to his level of productivity from December when you take into account the new additions to the team as well as the fact that the Mavericks roster is far healthier than it was when Exum was starting alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

However, Exum is still shooting 47.8 percent from the three-point line(albeit on limited attempts) and proved himself to be a great wing/point-of-attack defender for Dallas early on in the season. While the ascension of Josh Green as a pseudo-offensive creator in the Mavs’ lineup has derailed the importance of Exum’s creation ability for Dallas, Exum’s defense coupled with his threat as a driver and shooter should warrant him getting at least around 20 minutes per night for Dallas.

Kidd has recently said that he hopes for Exum to keep Exum under 20 minutes for the time being as the Mavericks plan on treading carefully with Exum’s recent injuries, but the Mavericks need to figure out a way to incorporate Exum into their rotation more as we trend toward the playoffs, as he’s been too good to only see a few minutes in games where he is fully healthy.