One of the underlying stories of this trade deadline for the Dallas Mavericks is whether they'll end up trading Klay Thompson or not, as Thompson would likely prefer playing for a contender at this stage in his career. Regardless, the Mavericks will be able to survive a potential Thompson loss due to the ascension of Max Christie.
The Mavericks are still starved for 3-point shooting on this roster, but Christie has easily been the best volume shooter on the team, shooting 46.6 percent from outside on 5.2 attempts per game. Jason Kidd has recently said he wants Christie to take around 10 3-pointers a game, which he'd definitely need to do if Dallas elected to trade Thompson, but the Mavericks should be thankful that one of their homegrown talent is blossoming into the Thompson role.
It's no guarantee that Dallas elects to trade Thompson ahead of the February 5 trade deadline, but Christie gives the Mavericks future assurance if they do. With Christie not even being 23 years old for a couple more months, it's clear he's on a special trajectory if he continues to carry the same work ethic that's gotten him to this point in his career.
Max Christie is everything Dallas wanted from Klay Thompson
The next step for Christie in terms of fully assuming the Thompson role is shooting off the move more often as well as increasing his volume, as Christie isn't quite the same level of shooter as Thompson is, even if percentages won't necessarily reflect that because of how much more efficient Christie has been inside the arc compared to Thompson.
Christie mirrors a lot of the same skills that a younger Thompson once did, even if the best version of Christie's game projects to be more driving-based compared to Thompson. Christie is also a stellar perimeter defender, so he's undoubtedly an ideal prototype of the modern-day 3-and-D wing, which is the exact type of player the Mavericks needed to find with Thompson being on the backend of his career.
Christie has said in interviews that he's learned some solid tips and tricks from Thompson, so it's definitely not the worst-case scenario if Thompson stays around in Dallas past the trade deadline, as the coaching staff has already recognized Christie as more talented than him and is starting him over Thompson.
Thompson is still a valuable role player for the Mavericks and has clearly made an imprint on Christie's development in some capacity, so the Mavericks definitely shouldn't part ways with Thompson unless the right deal comes up. Nico Harrison made a bold bet that Dallas would still have enough shooting following the Luka Doncic trade, and while that clearly hasn't been the case, getting Christie back in that deal definitely mitigates Dallas' future concern over a lack of shooting.
As the Mavericks build around Cooper Flagg going forward, they'll still definitely need to add more shooting onto this roster, but they may have done the hardest part in that equation by getting Christie onto this team already, as he profiles as one of the best volume 3-point shooters in the NBA, and is versatile on both sides of the ball.