With Ryan Nembhard starting to pick up the pieces for the Dallas Mavericks, Jason Kidd needs to keep him in the starting lineup if the Mavs want to keep their season to stay intact. The rookie from Gonzaga is continuing to force Kidd’s hand toward becoming the full-time starter for the Mavericks.

Against the Miami Heat this week, Nembhard finished with another double-double, with 15 points and 13 assists, following an incredible game against the Denver Nuggets. He already made a name for himself in that game against the Nuggets, finishing with a career-high 28 points, and he decided not to miss a beat again. With D’Angelo Russell and Brandon Williams coming off the bench now, it appears that Kidd has found a formula for the Mavericks to get back on track.

Being a rookie in the NBA is a learning curve. Look at how much some fans were willing to write off Cooper Flagg so early into the season. Now, Flagg has played like the best 18-year-old basketball player on the planet, and Nembhard has played like one of the best rookies in the NBA recently. Kidd is clearly sending a message to the team that Nembhard deserves a standard contract.

Kidd has no choice but to hand the keys of the offense to Nembhard

Kidd had the perfect plan for Nembhard, Russell, and Williams by distributing their respective minutes perfectly. Against Miami, Nembhard played 34 minutes. Russell played 15, and Williams played 14. This is the exact master plan that will help the point guard position for Dallas get back on track while giving Nembhard the reps he needs to become a star one day.

Wednesday’s game against the Heat was the Mavericks’ second straight win against a team in the 2023 NBA Finals, and it was largely thanks to Nembhard. While it’s obvious that Kidd should start Nembhard full-time, he should continue to balance the minutes of Williams and Russell exactly like he did in the Miami game to keep them both in the fold and ready for action.

It wasn’t long before Kidd was boasting to the media about how much the guys are rallying around the former Gonzaga Bulldog. With Russell not being consistent as a point guard who can shoot the basketball at a decent rate, Nembhard has come out of nowhere to the point where he should get the nod to play the starting role full-time, at least for the time being.

The Mavs tried working Williams into a starting role, and even though he has shown strides in playing with full confidence since last season, it’s a lot to ask for him to take on that role with the way Nembhard is playing right now. Nembhard is also the only point guard on the team who has a true pass-first playstyle, as Russell and Williams both look to score more than they look to facilitate.

This should be an easy adjustment for Kidd at this point.

It’s understandable to hesitate putting in a rookie over a veteran in the starting lineup, but this is about as clear-cut as it can get. The Mavericks can’t afford to waste any time, and they need some cushion before Kyrie Irving returns to the court. Recovering from an ACL tear isn’t easy, and it’s likely Irving won’t be nearly the same player that we saw before he got injured last season.

In that case, the Mavs will have to be extra patient and work with each of the four point guards once Irving comes back to find the perfect balance. At that point, we likely won’t even see Russell play 15 minutes, as Nembhard has rapidly surpassed him in the depth chart in the blink of an eye.