Max Christie is making Jason Kidd’s next major decision impossible to ignore

The Dallas Mavericks handled business coming out of their week-long sabbatical prompted by the NBA's All-Star weekend, as Dallas took down a fellow injury-depleted squad in the New Orleans Pelicans by a score of 111-103. Kyrie Irving led the way for the Mavericks, as the veteran superstar continues to carry them both on and off the court with his poise and leadership in this post-Luka Doncic era.

Irving had 35 points in this contest on 11-22 shooting from the field and an 8-8 line from the free throw line, as Irving scored from all three levels and took advantage of whatever defender New Orleans threw at him. Irving's continued dominance in his 14th NBA season is miraculous, and the Mavericks will need him to keep playing close to his peak if they want to survive this stretch without their three rotation big men that projects to last until early March at the very least.

P.J. Washington has also taken the mantle following this Doncic trade, as Washington has been more assertive than he's ever been and is attacking the rim and shooting the ball from downtown as well as he ever has in his entire career. Washington had 24 points, seven rebounds, and two steals versus New Orleans on Friday, showcasing his full two-way repertoire whilst proving that his dribble-drive game continues to deepen a little with each passing week.

Max Christie needs to start or take on a bigger offensive role

While Washington and Irving have truly led this team throughout this treacherous stretch of fan unrest and the unprecedented amount of injuries to Dallas' center rotation, the biggest surprise on this Mavericks team has been newly acquired guard Max Christie. Not only has Christie heavily impressed with how dynamic of a shot creator he's shown the potential to be through seven games in Dallas after having just been traded for the first time at only 22 years old, but he's played so well on both ends that it's time head coach Jason Kidd gives him a more expansive role or insert him into Dallas' starting lineup on a consistent basis.

In Friday night's game versus the Pelicans, Christie continued to display that he is a smooth operator in tough situations, as he knocked down multiple tough long two-pointers off the dribble against solid defense, and he's proven to be very unpredictable when attacking off closeouts. Christie went 6-7 in the game and had 16 points off the bench in 32 minutes, as Kidd has struggled to keep him off the court in every game that he's come off the bench for the Mavericks.

Christie was also a game-high +24 in the plus-minus department in this game, which points toward how effective he's been on the defensive end as well recently, as he is a lengthy 6-foot-5 hybrid guard/wing that plays with tremendous effort at the point of attack, has great athleticism, and rebounds better than his size.

Kidd has given Christie more of a leash offensively than he got with the Los Angeles Lakers without a doubt, but Kidd is still using Christie in a sixth-man type of role and is treating him as more of a secondary shot creator when he's on the floor. That'd be fine on most rosters, as Christie is already playing a lot of minutes and is blossoming in an increased role in a new situation, but given Dallas' desperation for more shot creation after shipping out Doncic and Anthony Davis getting hurt, Christie is deserving of being the most relied upon shot creator on this roster barring Irving.

In seven games for the Mavericks since the Doncic trade, Christie is averaging 17.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game off insanely efficient shooting splits of 51.9/47.2/84.0. Christie was showing some potential of becoming a high-level role player in Los Angeles, but no one expected his efficiency to scale this well in an increased role whilst still being able to maintain his presence as a high-level defender.

Christie's early tenure with the Mavericks could be fool's gold given how small of a sample size his time in Dallas has been, but this seems more unlikely with each passing game, and it's not without the realm of possibility that Christie could be trending toward an All-Star caliber player in the future if he keeps this up given how young he is.

It wouldn't be surprising to see Kidd insert Christie into the starting lineup soon or make him Dallas' main secondary ball handler after Irving. However, Kidd will need to recognize this sooner rather than later, as Christie is proving he gives Dallas the best chance to score or make a play on a given possession more than any other guard on the roster not named Irving, including Spencer Dinwiddie and Jaden Hardy.