Jason Kidd Hints at Possible Changes Coming After Mavericks' Blowout Loss to Raptors

The Dallas Mavericks were steamrolled by the Toronto Raptors on Sunday evening, losing 122-92. They've generally been competitive for most of the season, but 5 of their last 6 losses have been by double-digits. 4 of them were by at least 19 points. Since January 24th, they've won just two games, too.

While some of the losses may be by design, it's still frustrating for the organization. Sunday's game against the Raptors was the healthiest they've been almost all season, and they still weren't competitive. They amassed 19 turnovers, and they still can't buy a shot from 3, going 5/30 from deep in this game.

After the loss, head coach Jason Kidd said that they may change the starting lineup moving forward.

"We gotta look at some different combinations here as we go forward," Kidd said. "Maybe looking at the starting group. Maybe it's different combinations there in the 1st quarter. We'll look at that as we get to Atlanta. We didn't shoot the ball well, nor did we take care of the ball. It's hard to win in this league if you don't do those two things well."

The starting lineup from Sunday's game had Daniel Gafford go for 21 points and 11 rebounds on a perfect 10/10 shooting, but the rest of the lineup struggled.

Cooper Flagg, who is still working his way back from injury, had 17 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals to get wildly close to a 5-by-5 game (having at least 5 points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks in the same game), but he shot just 7/17 from the floor.

Max Christie really struggled in this game, going 1/11 from the floor and 0/7 from three. He and Klay Thompson are the team's only real threats from deep, so if someone is struggling like this, teams are going to continue loading up the paint against them.

Feb 26, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd looks on during the second quarter against the Sacramento Kings at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

One Change the Mavericks May Need to Make

The Mavericks recently converted Ryan Nembhard to a standard NBA contract after waiving the recently acquired Tyus Jones. Since then, he hasn't played much. He appeared for just over 5 minutes against the Raptors on Sunday, finishing with 2 points and 2 assists. The Mavs desperately need some playmaking, and with how the season is going, why not play the young guys?

Nembhard had a strong stretch at the end of November and early December, but he has definitely struggled at times since. But it'd be better to let a true guard run the offense rather that a wing coming off injury, like Flagg.

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