Mavericks’ ideal Cooper Flagg trio isn’t even close to clicking

The Dallas Mavericks’ trio of Cooper Flagg, Max Christie, and P.J. Washington totaled 697 minutes together — the second-most-played trio on the team. Yet despite appearing to be Dallas’ shooting guard, small forward, and power forward trio for the foreseeable future, the lineup performed so poorly that the Mavericks should already be questioning whether Christie or Washington is an ideal long-term fit next to Flagg.

The numbers behind the Dallas Mavericks' disastrous trio

Among 179 three-man combinations to play at least 600 minutes together, the Flagg-Christie-Washington trio ranked dead last in net rating at -13.1. It was the only trio within that sample to post a net rating worse than -12.5, and one of just four to finish with a double-digit negative mark. Put simply, the lineup was remarkably bad.

More numbers illustrating just how bad these three were together: last among the sample in offensive rating, 169th in defensive rating, last in true shooting percentage, and last in player impact estimate. The offense was so ineffective that even after lowering the minutes threshold and adding more than 200 additional trios to the sample, this lineup still finished in the bottom five in both offensive and net rating.

You don’t need to cherry-pick statistics to demonstrate how poor this trio was together on the floor. More concerning than just how badly the lineup performed, though, is the realization that this was supposed to be Dallas’ long-term two, three, and four.

Why Dallas believed in the fit

Of course, Flagg is here to stay. After a wildly impressive rookie season, Mavericks fans are surely hoping he retires a Dallas Maverick. While the same can’t necessarily be said for Christie or Washington, both players appeared to have legitimate staying power. Christie is still just 23 years old and seems like the ideal shooting complement next to Flagg.

Meanwhile, Washington is signed through 2030 and profiled as a strong complementary piece himself, as a versatile two-way forward with legitimate floor-spacing ability.

Nonetheless, Christie wasn’t quite as promising as expected, while Washington’s fit next to Flagg already appears somewhat clunky. In fact, Washington declined in nearly every major statistical category last season.

Mavericks may already need a new long-term plan

Thus, it may already be time to rethink how well these three fit alongside one another. Dallas owns two first-round picks, including No. 9 overall, and it’s been widely assumed the Mavericks will target a guard there, partly because they need a long-term replacement for 34-year-old Kyrie Irving, but also because Christie may not be the franchise’s long-term starting shooting guard.

Washington, a versatile forward, can line up at either the three or the four. However, with Flagg seemingly locked into one of those two spots for the next decade, Dallas may only need to find one additional long-term forward. That could very well come in next month’s draft, especially because new team president Masai Ujiri has historically favored long, athletic wings.

After a season that exposed just how poorly Flagg, Christie, and Washington fit together, it wouldn’t be surprising if Dallas opened next season with a much different lineup variation, potentially with both Christie and Washington coming off the bench. Of course, Irving’s return as the team’s primary ball-handler could bring more offensive stability, but isolating the trio still reveals such a discouraging sample that it may already be time for Dallas to move in another direction.

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