Mavericks just found a dream Klay Thompson replacement — and no one noticed until now

In the Dallas Mavericks' first Summer League contest versus the Los Angeles Lakers, Cooper Flagg's debut was the spectacle, but multiple Mavericks quietly had very good games en route to an 87-85 victory. Rookie Ryan Nembhard was a poised three-level scorer throughout the entire contest, and he ended up hitting the game-winning 3-pointer off an assist from Flagg in transition late in the game.

Fellow two-way signee Miles Kelly had a great game as well, though, as he chipped in 17 points and four rebounds off 6-12 shooting from the field. Kelly went 3-8 shooting from outside as well, as he has a pure stroke from deep and can shoot in movement scenarios as well. He's also 6-foot-6 and competes very hard defensively, as he's honestly a prototype of a younger Klay Thompson.

Obviously, it's hard to project what kind of role a two-way signing may get once the season starts and whether he'll play more in the G League or the NBA, but Kelly has all the makings of an elite two-way signing by the Mavericks, even though it's only been one Summer League game thus far.

Miles Kelly is already showing serious shades of Klay Thompson

Kelly was a great 3-point shooter in college at Georgia Tech and Auburn as well, so if he continues to hone in on the little things such as being aggressive off closeouts, being a pest defensively, and crashing the boards, he could find a prominent role for himself with the Mavericks or another team in the league one day.

After Summer League practice last week, Mavs Summer League head coach Josh Broghamer praised Kelly's rebounding and ability to push the ball in transition after pulling a board, and both of those should help him develop moving forward.

If the Mavericks can continue to develop the 22-year-old and keep him in the organization long enough to let him learn behind one of the best 3-and-D wings to ever do it in Thompson, Kelly could become a very similar type of player to how Thompson was in his younger days, especially if he can thrive as a cutter and finisher.

It's obviously a stretch to say Kelly could ever become as elite of a 3-point shooter as Thompson, as Thompson is one of the best shooters to ever touch a basketball, but he definitely could become some close version of Thompson if he continues to develop, and it will be interesting to see how he fares in Dallas' remaining Summer League games.

With Thompson being 35 years old and only having two seasons remaining on his deal, Dallas will need to find another elite shooter in their lineup as the Flagg era really starts to set in a few seasons from now, and developing a homegrown prospect like Kelly would be the easiest way to accomplish this task without having to sacrifice anything.

Cracking the rotation as a two-way player next season won't be easy for Kelly, but it's certainly not improbable given how bad Dallas' injury luck has been recently, so Dallas should have great assurance Kelly could be the type of player to help them out if one of their guards or wings went down. Broghamer raved about Kelly in media availability earlier today, as he described Kelly's role in the same vein as what Thompson's role is for the Mavericks.

"Just what he does, shoot the basketball really well. I think we saw last night, too, he's a great rebounder. As the game turns into more isolation and switching and he has to guard a zone and then come back and box out bigger guys... That's something I think he can always help any team with... Shooting the basketball is something we keep encouraging him to do, and he does it at a high level," Broghamer said on Kelly's impact earlier today.