The Mavericks’ 115-100 loss to the Kings on Monday night did more than drop another game into the standings. It also put a spotlight on a roster question Dallas may already be rethinking: the three-year, $51.8 million extension for Naji Marshall.
With Kyrie Irving sidelined, the Mavericks needed someone else to help create offense. Instead, they came up short against one of the NBA’s weaker teams, and the night doubled as a rough audit of the supporting cast. Cooper Flagg had a difficult outing, and outside of Walter Clayton Jr., the other offensive initiators didn’t really show up.
Marshall was supposed to be part of the answer. Dallas gave him the extension this offseason because it didn’t want to risk losing him in free agency next year. The front office saw value in what he brought last season: defense, secondary playmaking, and a useful pop shot and floater that made him effective in a complementary role.
The deal itself is structured on a declining scale. Marshall will make $18.2 million next season, then $16.7 million in the final year.
Even at the time of the signing, there were questions. Marshall has never been a reliable threat from deep, and he hasn’t been on a contending team.
That left real doubt about how well he’d translate to a contender. His fit next to Cooper Flagg has also come under the microscope, since both players are most effective with the ball in their hands.
If Marshall is parked in the corner, he doesn’t exactly force defenses to panic.
So far, the early returns haven’t helped his case. In four games, Marshall has averaged 11.5 points and 6.0 assists, but he’s shooting just 44.4% from the field and 20% from three.
He’s also taken more threes, and the results haven’t followed. Dallas is 1-3 in those games, while it went 3-0 in the three contests he missed because of illness.
The numbers have been ugly in another way, too: Marshall owns the worst plus/minus on the team at -7.8. He believed he could shoot better than 40% from three this season, but that hasn’t materialized, and he isn’t helping the Mavericks win.
If Dallas decides to chase a roster upgrade, Marshall would have been one of the more attractive names on the market before the extension. Now, the contract changes that equation. A 6-foot-8 ball-handling wing who can’t shoot is a tougher sell in trade talks.
Marshall still brings value, and teams always have room for a physical, hard-nosed presence. But this is a shooter’s league, and Marshall isn’t a shooter, no matter how much he wants to be.
Even getting his three-point percentage into the 33% range would change the conversation. As it stands, players like Max Christie and P.J.
Washington, even with Washington’s larger contract, would likely be easier to move.
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