'Change is Good!': 'Hardship' Mavs Pinson & Chriss Make Big Impact in Debut

Dallas has pretty much had the same core of players on its current roster for nearly three years now, or rather, since the trade for Kristaps Porzingis that happened on January, 31 2019. As mentioned on Monday, it's not just the Mavs' inconsistent play this season that has people upset, it's the fact that the Mavs have literally been a .500 basketball team over their last 276 games.

The Mavs don't believe in making changes to the roster unless it's a move that would be an obvious talent upgrade. However, if you sit around waiting for those things to happen, and they never do, you end up being stagnant for a longer period of time than initially intended. With that said, why not take more chances and 'shuffle the deck', so to speak, given how uninspiring the current roster has been though 30 games so far this season?

Even if some things were good at one time, there comes a point where something different is needed. This was true in the case of former Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle leaving. Whether you agreed with the Jason Kidd hiring or not, it was still time to move on from Carlisle, who had reportedly lost the Mavs' locker room. It was true in the case of former general manager Donnie Nelson as well. As much good as Nelson did for the Mavs overall during his tenure as GM, the continuous unforced errors over his final two years was proof that change was needed.

The Mavs may still 'love our boys in blue,' as Nelson used to say, but at least on Tuesday night, we saw more effort, energy and raw talent from two players who were both picked up in the last 24 hours than we have from half of the Dallas roster this entire season so far.

Maybe it was just the high of the moment. After all, we've seen it before where very undermanned teams come together and get a big, unexpected win. Maybe the play of Pinson and Chriss won't hold up over the next handful of games, but our eyes saw what our eyes saw on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center. And if that kind of play is sustained by the Mavs' new 10-day 'hardship' signees? Well, then the front office is going to have some important decisions to make before those contracts end. 

Hopefully, owner Mark Cuban and general manager Nico Harrison pay close attention to this new 'makeshift' roster over the next week and make necessary changes based on talent and performance instead of feelings and finances.