Mavericks must face the Klay Thompson gut punch they can't ignore any longer

Dallas Mavericks fans have been begging for Jason Kidd to start D'Angelo Russell thanks to their glaring need for more ball handling and playmaking, but with Kidd's insistence on running the big starting five, there is a different lineup change that he needs to consider.

Max Christie has proven that he deserves to get a starting nod soon, and this would come at the cost of Klay Thompson's spot as the team's starting shooting guard. He has held this role for his entire Mavericks tenure thus far, and this would definitely be a tough pill to swallow if Kidd does decide to make this decision. Thompson has started in 817 of 868 games in his career thus far, and heading to the bench would be a major change, but it could help him in the end.

Kidd seems dedicated to starting Flagg at point guard, and with their need for more creation in that starting five, Christie makes excellent sense as someone who could give this group a spark and a new look. Russell could be a good option to make the offense look seamless, but Dallas is in a difficult spot as they try to balance Flagg's development with winning as many games as possible.

Jason Kidd can't afford to ignore this lineup change much longer

Kidd talked about this after Sunday night's win, and he is perfectly fine with the growing pains that come with starting Flagg at point guard.

"You have to live with the mistakes," Kidd said when asked about the challenges of balancing developing Flagg and winning. "There’s no perfect player, no perfect game. As much as we’ll be critiqued on that, we don’t really care, because we’ve got to be able to go through the fire to be a champion. You’re not born a champion, you’ve got to earn it."

The big lineup with Flagg at the one seems like it will continue until Kyrie Irving returns from injury, and if Flagg is going to start at point guard, the change that makes the most sense to add some flair to this unit would be starting Christie instead of Thompson.

Sunday night showed this even more, as Christie finished with 17 points, two assists, and one steal while shooting 5-8 from the field and 3-5 from downtown against the Toronto Raptors. His offseason focus on on-ball creation has paid dividends for his development this season, as shown by his confidence when handling the ball and having to create for himself, and this is one of the many reasons that he can help improve Dallas' current starting lineup.

Thompson has struggled so far this season, as he is averaging a career-low 9.3 points per game while shooting 26.7 percent from downtown. While the rest of the offense hasn't done the best job at generating good looks for him, his questionable shot selection from the preseason has bled into the regular season.

Thompson is taking some heavily contested shots from beyond the arc as well as from the mid-range, and one-legged leaners are clearly not in his bag anymore.

Christie is the exact opposite in this regard, as most of his shots come at the perfect time within the flow of the offense, and Kidd wants him to attack his role even more. Christie is already playing better and earning more minutes than Thompson at this point, and his reward for this could end up being securing a starting spot.

His 3-point shooting, defense, and secondary playmaking are all extremely strong, and his game continues to improve as time goes on. Even with Christie's hot start in which he has averaged 11.7 points per game and shot 60 percent from downtown, the Mavs want him to be more aggressive, and this is only going to make him even more dangerous from beyond the arc.

With the lineup of Flagg, Thompson, P.J. Washington, Anthony Davis, and Dereck Lively II, the Mavericks are forcing Flagg and Washington to be primary ball handlers, and Christie replacing Thompson would help them in that department. While Thompson's 3-point shooting can still be lethal at this point in his career, he's not someone you want to trust as a ball handler.

Teams are oftentimes full-court pressing Dallas, especially when they don't have a true point guard on the floor, and this shaves valuable time off the shot clock and forces them to get into their sets and actions much later. While Christie isn't an elite ball handler by any means, he would help take pressure off Flagg and Washington in this unit by being an option to bring the ball up the floor.

Not forcing Flagg or Washington to bring it up every time will help preserve their energy while also giving the offense another wrinkle. Flagg's off-ball cutting is one of the most underrated parts of his game, and allowing him to get to his spots earlier in the shot clock will help the offense run more smoothly.

Kidd starting Russell seems like the more popular starting lineup change after his 24-point outing against Toronto changed the look of Dallas' offense, but Christie joining this unit may be the sleeper shakeup that the Mavs need as they look to maximize Flagg's growth.