Mavericks' cursed Luka Doncic trade finally gets a happy ending

When the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and one first-round pick, many fans didn't expect Christie to be the best player to emerge out of that trade. Following a laundry list of injuries to Davis, including his most recent hand injury that will sideline him for the next month, Christie has taken the reins of a struggling Mavericks squad and embraced becoming one of Dallas' most versatile wing players.

At the beginning of the season, many fans understood that Christie needed to have a breakout season for the Mavericks to have a successful season, but didn't realize that he would become the cornerstone piece of the Doncic return. Christie has dazzled from beyond the arc throughout the whole season, pouring in an impressive 45.9 percent shooting from behind the 3-point line, and that is just the beginning of his impressive skill set.

Christie can not only defend opposing teams' best players, but alongside Cooper Flagg, he has formed a formidable enough duo that the league will fear in a few years. Christie will never replace what Doncic brought to the team from an offensive perspective, but almost a year removed from one of the worst trades ever, he has quickly become a pillar Dallas fans can lean on and cheer for.

Max Christie is proving he can be a cornerstone in Dallas

Mavericks fans will always miss Doncic, and they undoubtedly got an undervalued return for him, but Max Christie is easily a major bright spot from this move. His rise is one of the only happy endings for Dallas as Doncic thrives in Los Angeles, and he is poised to improve even more as the years go on.

It's hard to find any positives from a trade where a franchise's best player was swapped for an injury-riddled, aging star like Davis, but Christie has quickly become a fan favorite in the city of Dallas. It didn't take long for him to flash the offensive game he had been working on from his time with the Los Angeles Lakers; it just became a question of consistency.

From the opening night tip-off against the San Antonio Spurs earlier this season, it became clear that Christie was ready to become a household name. Now, at the halfway mark of the season, Christie is averaging an impressive 12.9 points per game on what would be a franchise-best 45.9 percent shooting from behind the arc if the season ended today.

While Christie has shone best from behind the arc, he has begun to dabble in his off-the-dribble game, which has only expanded his scoring margins. With the fourth-year guard being so deadly from three, he uses that to get defenders in the air off pump fakes, then dribbling and pulling up for easy mid-range opportunities.

Christie has been so impressive this season that Mavs fans are even beginning to call the Doncic trade "The Max Christie Trade." It's easy to see that the former Michigan State Spartan has established himself as one of the young players to build around in Dallas, but over the last 10 games, he has begun to enter conversations of potentially being a top-three or four player in Dallas' future.

With Christie becoming the unquestionable nightly starter over Klay Thompson, the only question that remains for him is if he can keep this level of productivity up for 82 games. It shouldn't be hard for Christie, considering he continues to get better every game, but that will confirm whether or not he can be a core piece to build around Cooper Flagg.