Mavericks' undeniable flaw that forced Klay Thompson trade is haunting them again

Trades were the story of the season for the Dallas Mavericks last season. While Nico Harrison is still getting thrashed daily for his decision to trade Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis and Max Christie, he actually made some solid trades before the season began that set the stage for a great year.

The first move Harrison made last offseason was trading Tim Hardaway Jr. and some draft capital for Quentin Grimes, and while Grimes is gone now, this ended up being a great move as Grimes was a stellar defender and 3-point shooter over the 47 games he played in Dallas. Grimes is now looking like a star for the Philadelphia 76ers, and Mavs fans are wishing Harrison had never traded him for Caleb Martin.

Dallas' other trade they made last summer was a six-team transaction that allowed the Mavericks to sign Klay Thompson through a sign-and-trade. The Mavericks gave up Josh Green to get this deal done, and while he still has plenty of time to develop in Charlotte, this move is looking like a major win for Dallas as Thompson is thriving for the Mavericks while Green has somewhat plateaued.

Mavericks can't afford another Josh Green situation with Max Christie

Green never lived up to his full potential in Dallas either, with confidence being one of his biggest issues that held him back from consistent play. He was consistently a capable 3-point shooter in Dallas, as he shot 39.3 percent from downtown over his final two years with the team, but oftentimes he looked unsure if he wanted to let it fly when catching the ball on the perimeter, and this tendency of his held his development back, regardless of how great the 3-point shooting numbers look.

Now, the Mavericks have a similar situation with Christie, and he has to figure out this part of his game before it's too late.

Like Green, the numbers say that he was a decent 3-point shooter during his time in Dallas this past season. Christie shot 36.4 percent from downtown on 4.7 attempts per game over the 32 games he played for the Mavs, and while this number is respectable, he wasn't always ready to shoot. Dallas was forced to depend on him for offense due to all of their injuries, but he wasn't able to be a consistent scoring threat for them like he was right after he got traded. They needed Christie to shoot every open look he got, especially since their spacing got much worse with Davis in the lineup alongside another big such as Dereck Lively II or Daniel Gafford, and this is one thing he must work on heading into next season.

This shouldn't be too hard of a fix, as Christie is a career 37-percent 3-point shooter, and the numbers show that he is much better when he is shooting with confidence and getting enough attempts from downtown to fully get into a rhythm. In the 11 games that Christie attempted three or fewer 3-pointers in Dallas last season, he shot 32 percent on these shots, and in about half of those games, he drilled zero threes. Christie is too good of a shooter not to shoot more than three threes in a game, considering he was playing 30.4 minutes per game for Dallas, and they need him to let it rip any time he is open behind the arc since their 3-point shooting took a dip after the Doncic and Grimes trades.

In the 21 games that Christie shot four or more times from downtown, his numbers went up. In these games, Christie shot 37.4 percent from downtown, and he made four or more threes four different times. Just like many shooters, volume and confidence are keys to success for Christie, and Jason Kidd and company must instill into his brain that he needs to take every open three that is created for him. Thompson would be a great option for someone to mentor Christie, as his confidence has helped turn him into one of the best shooters in NBA history, and their laid-back personalities definitely match up with each other.

Christie is too deadly of a shooter to pass up open looks, and this will only help open up the rest of his game. Christie showed a nice mid-range pull-up game in some of his better games with the Mavericks, and if he can consistently get back to how he was playing at the beginning of his Mavs journey, he'll be in a great spot to be one of Kidd's top players off the bench.

Christie has all of the tools to be an excellent 3-and-D wing for the Mavericks for years to come, and as long as he doesn't fall into Green's infamous trap of doubting his 3-point shot and allowing it to negatively affect the rest of his game, he'll be just fine. Learning from Thompson should work wonders for Christie's game, and a full offseason of working with his teammates should put him in a prime position to take the year-four leap Mavs fans always wished Green would have made.