Max Christie will be Mavericks' saving grace from Luka Doncic trade disaster

The Dallas Mavericks' injury luck continues to get worse at the worst possible time of year. As the All-Star break begins today, the Mavericks are without over half their roster and this includes only one healthy center available for the foreseeable future in Kylor Kelley who is on a two-way contract.

Without a reliable, healthy center on the team, Dallas has surprisingly won two games in a row where both contests went down to the final buzzer. In the Mavericks' latest victory over the Miami Heat on Thursday night, Dallas rallied behind a 27-point Dante Exum performance.

This not only goes down as Exum's season-high but since joining the team a few weeks ago after a lengthy injury, he has established himself as one of the lead guards off the bench. While Exum has been a sight for sore eyes, Max Christie has been just as impressive in his short stint as a Mav.

Christie has become a surprising addition for Maverick fans who weren't familiar with his game in Los Angeles. With this in mind, the Luka Doncic trade will likely still go down as one of the worst trades in NBA history, but Christie's surprising emergence in Dallas could ease fan's broken hearts.

Max Christie is softening the blow of the Luka Doncic trade

Christie was a project player coming into the league as he spent considerable time with the Lakers' G League affiliate team, the South Bay Lakers. While in South Bay, Christie established himself as an emerging two-way player who displayed glimpses of a possible starting two-guard.

Christie's emergence in LA was slow but needed. In year three, the former Michigan State Spartan finally began to blossom as a Laker, and in 25 starts, Christie averaged double-digits in scoring on uber-efficient numbers from the field.

Since being traded to the Mavs, Christie has only scratched the surface of his potential. In his first six games as a Maverick, Christie is averaging 17.3 points per outing while shooting an impressive 45.5 percent from behind the 3-point line.

Christie's impressive start hasn't only netted him late-game minutes in Jason Kidd's rotation, but he has also gained the love of the Dallas fan base for his hardworking mentality.

It's hard to say now, but Christie's time in Dallas will likely always be shadowed by the trade that landed him a Maverick. Christie was very likely thrown in as a last-second sweetener in the Doncic-Davis swap but has played at a near All-Star level since landing in Dallas. Fans are always going to miss Doncic, as he helped the Mavericks reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011 last season, but Christie could end up becoming a star in his role one day and be a household name across the league.

He hasn't only been a surprise addition in most fans' eyes, but Christie has likely netted himself as a major member in Kidd's playoff rotation, assuming he makes the same impact he did after the break. The Mavs have been put in a very awkward spot with the amount of injuries they have to key role players before the playoff push begins along with trading Doncic, and Christie has helped make this transition smoother.

Christie won't only need to be one of the few Mavs that Kidd can rely on, but he will need to continue to play lights out for the remainder of this season if the Mavericks expect to make it out of the play-in race.

There's no doubt Christie has all the tools to become a fan-favorite two-guard come playoff time, but his shooting consistency is the only question mark still looming at the back of fans' minds.

If Christie can continue to prove doubters wrong, the sky is the limit for the 22-year-old guard.