With just four games left before the Dallas Mavericks’ regular season comes to a close, the team is scrambling to make last-minute roster adjustments before the Play-In Tournament tips off. While multiple two-way players have emerged as legitimate rotational studs, it may require the Mavericks to cut a player in order to make an additional roster spot available before April 10, because as things stand now, they only have one open roster spot.

Not only are the Mavericks in scramble mode to polish off the roster before the playoffs tip off, but the team is also scrambling to gain home-court advantage in the first round of the Play-In Tournament. After Friday night’s loss to the LA Clippers, the Mavs find themselves only a half-game ahead of the Sacramento Kings for ninth place in the Western Conference.

Not only would home-court advantage be a massive plus for Dallas in their hopes to crack the playoffs as an eighth seed, but multiple Maverick role players would need to step up along the way to give Dallas a legitimate shot at being competitive.

While many Maverick role players have had their moments throughout the season, newly acquired guard Caleb Martin has long been a name that fans have thrown under the rug due to his early struggles with the team. While Martin is still not the player Dallas thought they traded for in February, he has finally begun to turn things around on both ends of the floor as a Maverick.

Caleb Martin is finally showing signs of life as a Maverick

Since being traded to the Mavericks at the trade deadline, Martin’s time in Dallas can be summed up as disappointing. Not only has the defensive ace struggled to find his footing in Jason Kidd’s system, but Martin’s lengthy injury history has begun to catch up to him.

Despite the 29-year-old’s slow start as a Mav, things may finally be headed in the right direction after an impressive performance against the Atlanta Hawks earlier this week. By no means did Martin wow fans on the box score, but his defensive presence throughout the game aided in Dallas’ clutch 120-118 victory.

Martin not only played a huge role in his 28 minutes on the floor, but for the first time as Mav, he gained the attention of many fans due to his pestering defense on Trae Young and other Atlanta guards. While fans have yet to see how sustainable Martin’s play could be for the remainder of the season, his performance against Atlanta may be enough to throw his season back on track.

On the offensive end, Martin finished the night off with an efficient eight points and 1/1 shooting from behind the three-point line. These numbers may not wow any fans initially, but if Martin can continue to sustain these offensive stats on a nightly basis, he may become a more favorable option off the bench for Kidd and the Mavericks coaching staff.

Defensively, Martin has begun to turn heads with his impressive ability to guard one-on-one in space, and against Atlanta, Mavericks fans may have witnessed Martin’s best performance since joining Dallas. Martin not only helped Dallas secure a much-needed victory, but his defense on Young throughout the game, and particularly in the clutch, proved to many fans that he still has what it takes to be a difference maker.

With this in mind, Martin still shouldn’t be fully relied upon in a seven-game series to guard the opposing team’s best player, but he can confidently become a difference-maker off the bench. Fans have yet to see Martin’s ceiling in Dallas, but his play against the Hawks may just be a small sample of what he is capable of moving forward. A glimpse of Nico Harrison’s vision of why he traded for Martin was obvious against Atlanta, and the full picture could end up revealing itself as time goes on.

The Mavericks are in no doubt their most desperate situation a week before the playoffs, and Martin’s ascension in the rotation couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.