On Tuesday night, the Dallas Mavericks lost to the New York Knicks by a score of 128-113.
With the loss, the Mavericks are now 35-38 on the season and are currently the 11th seed in the Western Conference.
They are currently half a game behind the 9th seed Sacramento Kings and 10th seed Phoenix Suns, and time is running out for them to secure a playoff spot.
Naji Marshall has ascended ever since the Luka Doncic trade
Although for most Mavericks fans, there'll never be a silver lining in Luka Doncic getting traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the few positives has been that some players have taken advantage of having the ball in their hands more often and getting a bigger role within the offense amid this strange season.
Since Doncic was traded, one player who has taken advantage of running the offense more often is Naji Marshall.
In the 24 games he's played in since the trade happened, Marshall has averaged 17.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 52 percent from the field.
On a nightly basis, Marshall has proven he has one of the most unguardable shots in the NBA: the two-foot floater. It doesn't matter who's guarding him, where he's at in the paint, or how far he is from the basket; Marshall will always get his go-to shot off.
On Tuesday night against the Knicks, Marshall had a career-high of 38 points and shot an absurdly efficient 17-25 from the field.
In his last 10 games, Marshall is also shooting 58.5 percent on shots in the paint (non-restricted area), according to NBA advanced stats.
Due to Doncic getting traded, plus Kyrie Irving and Dante Exum suffering season-ending injuries, Marshall has had to take on a role that he's never quite experienced in his career, which is initiating the offense on a consistent basis. He has always been capable of doing it, and now he is having his role expand at the perfect time.
Not only is Marshall averaging 24.2 points in his last 10 games, but he's also putting up 7.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.
With Marshall playing at this high of a level as of late, his trade stock surely has increased for this upcoming offseason, but it seems like it would be in Nico Harrison's best interest to keep Marshall on the roster due to the fact he could be a huge piece for this roster if they want to make a big playoff run in the near future.
If the Mavericks want to make a late season playoff push, Marshall will have to keep up his excellent all-around play.
