Heading into tonight's game against the Brooklyn Nets, the Dallas Mavericks are 37-38 on the year and have won four of their last five games. Dallas is finally starting to get healthy at the right time, as Anthony Davis returned from his adductor strain last week and Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II are trending toward making a return soon.
While Gafford and Lively II will give the Mavs much-needed frontcourt depth, their backcourt depth isn't where it needs to be heading into the final stretch of the season due to injuries. Kyrie Irving and potentially Dante Exum will be out for the year with a torn ACL (Irving) and hand injury (Exum), and they also just lost another guard to an NBA rule that Mavs fans never could have expected would be affecting them this season.
On Saturday night, Brandon Williams possibly played his last game as a Maverick, as he is on a two-way contract, and two-way players can only be active for 50 games. Saturday's game against the Chicago Bulls was Williams's 50th active game this season, and Dallas has a decision to make when it comes to his future.
Mavericks can't afford to let Brandon Williams go
Ever since the Luka Doncic trade and all of the injuries the Mavs have suffered, Williams has taken a huge step in his development, and he has turned into a fan favorite. Williams has been one of the team's few bright spots during a previously dark stretch, and he definitely deserves to be on Dallas' 15-man playoff roster.
In March, Williams averaged 16.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 54.1 percent from the field, and he is looking like someone who could stick around in Dallas into the extended future. Williams' scoring, energy, and ability to create his own shot have won fans over in the last month, and they have to do whatever it takes to keep him in Dallas.
Since the games limit on his two-way contract has now expired, the next step for the Mavericks to ensure he stays with the team heading into the postseason would be signing him to a standard contract as soon as they are eligible to do so on April 10. Dallas has an open roster spot that they can use to sign Williams, and with Irving and Exum being out, it makes the most sense to sign Williams to a standard deal as soon as possible.
Dallas is in a similar situation with both Kessler Edwards and Kai Jones, their other two-way players, as Edwards has already been active for 50 games, and Jones has been active for 45 games. The Mavericks could explore signing either one of those players to a standard deal as well, but it seems like the most sense to bring back Williams.
Williams has made a name for himself in Dallas while filling in for the injured guards, and his fit on the team is too seamless to ignore. The Mavericks need more shot creators on the roster, and Williams' skill set is something the team can utilize now and into the future. Not to mention, that Spencer Dinwiddie, Exum, and potentially Irving will be free agents this summer, and the Mavericks should get ahead of this early by making sure Williams is a member of the squad for the playoffs and beyond.