Mavericks rookie may finally solve the costly problem Dallas couldn't fix last season

The 2025-26 Dallas Mavericks season will go down in the history books as the year that Cooper Flagg entered the NBA, and hopefully will cause havoc for the rest of the league, and stay healthy. He'll be competing against Bronny James and the Los Angeles Lakers tonight, which is reported to set ticket price records for an NBA Summer League game.

There are plenty of young guys that will get a chance to showcase their talents in Summer League, such as Ryan Nemhbard, the younger brother of Andrew Nebhard from Gonzaga. He's become an underrated signing that might just make an impact earlier than what Mavs fans had anticipated. Miles Kelly from Auburn has also stood out ahead of Summer League, and he was one of the more electrifying shooters in college basketball. Like Nembhard, Kelly is also on a two-way deal, and fans are excited to watch him play beginning tonight.

Kelly had immediately blossomed last season at Auburn, and he turned out to be a major threat by just pulling up from three like it was nobody's business. This signing might just pay dividends for Dallas in the end, but it's up to Kelly to prove that he belongs in the NBA with a deeper 3-point line compared to the college game.

Mavericks need Miles Kelly's knockdown deep 3-point shooting badly

At Auburn, Kelly wasn't afraid to shoot from downtown, and this same confidence should carry over to the NBA. Last season for the Tigers, he shot 38 percent from deep and averaged 11.3 points per game. Even though that Auburn team was highlighted by Johni Broome, the Tigers were filled with seniors and graduates that helped them finish with a Final Four apperance, and Kelly was a key part of that.

Dallas desperately needs a consistent, electrifying deep-range shooter to make up for what Spencer Dinwiddie failed to become (along with the rest of the team struggling from three at the end of last season). Dinwiddie had flashes of showing up from deep range, but in the end, he was too inconsistent, and Dallas eventually had to let him walk this summer. This is the perfect role for Kelly to jump into, especially because he'll be in a position where he can afford to make mistakes, but if he's actually shooting well from deep, the coaching staff will definitely not pull the plug on him.

Something that has already been witnessed is his confidence. This is exactly the mentality that the Mavs need, and a confident shooter like Kelly is what all NBA teams would love. The NBA 3-point line is deeper than college, but Kelly is still keeping his hopes up.

"My confidence is through the roof, if I see the goal and it's open, I'm shooting it," Kelly said after Summer League practice on Wednesday. "And that's never going to change throughout my whole career."

Kelly could one day develop into a player like Klay Thompson, who's now one of the greatest catch-and-shoot players of all time. Of course, that's an extremely high ceiling, but if Kelly can at least show the confidence to make those long-range shots, this can be something to build on for him down the road.

Kelly's ability to drill threes well beyond the 3-point line at the college level should help make his transition to the NBA smooth, and Mavs fans could end up seeing him hit the floor earlier than expected during the regular season, depending on what their injury situation looks like.

Kelly will have to go through pins and needles to get a spot in the rotation, though. He'll have to compete with an already stacked Dallas roster, but with the big men pretty much already set in stone, there's definitely room for another wing to shine on the Mavs roster.