Why is Max Christie playing so much better on the Mavericks than he did on the Lakers?

When fans look back at the historic Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade, it is important they not also forget the presence of Max Christie.

Christie was averaging 8.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 0.8 steals per game on the Lakers before he was traded. He is now averaging 15.2 points, 4.9 points, 3.1 assists, and 1.1 steals per game on the Mavericks. He has scored at least 15 points in seven of his eight games on his new team.

"He has a lot of freedom at Dallas that frankly he didn't have here," admitted Lakers head coach JJ Redick.

As noted by Redick, one of the reasons for Christie's improvement is just the sheer significance in his role, especially now that Davis is hurt and Dallas no longer has Doncic on offense.

The dot on the chart above represents the date Christie was traded.

Even though he was already beginning a bit of an ascension before the deal, it has only continued upward since his role changed as part of one of the most shocking trades in NBA history.

He averaged 29.7 touches per game for Los Angeles and is now up to 48.6 touches per game with Dallas.

Among the 274 players who logged at least 100 minutes both before and after February 1, per our research, that total increase ranks as the eighth-best in the NBA.

When he had the ball with the Lakers, he averaged 2.42 seconds per touch. Now on the Mavericks, that is now 3.17 seconds. That percentage increase (30.9 percent) is fourth-best in the league using those same parameters.

Christie is also putting the ball on the floor more often as well and has increased from 1.74 dribbles per touch with Los Angeles to 2.58 dribbles per touch with Dallas. That improvement (48.3 percent) is third-best in the NBA.

"[He is] isoing and also just making plays off the dribble and continuing in our offense to allow it to flow, come off pick and rolls, be able to catch and shoot," Dallas guard Kyrie Irving explained. "You get one-on-one against anybody in the NBA and we're going to trust you that you can beat your man one on one and at least get a great, high-efficient shot."

Christie is predominantly a spot-up shooter and finished possessions in isolation on 1.1 percent of his possessions for the Lakers, per Synergy, and is now up to 12.5 percent for the Mavericks. So they are allowing him to play with the ball in his hands more often and it has led to success.

"I'm handling the ball more than I usually do ever in an NBA game, let alone down the stretch as well with pressure," Christie said. "So those are good learning experiences for me and Coach Kidd is willing and trusting enough to put me in those situations so it means a lot to me as a player."

We are now seeing Christie attempting far more dribble jumpers than catch-and-shoot jump shots. He has gone from connecting on 0.2 pull-up jumpers per game to 1.3 pull-up jumpers per game, which is the largest increase (550 percent) in the league.

But it isn't just his opportunity for shooting and scoring that has seen notable improvements. He is getting the ball more often, increasing from 21.4 passes received per game to 34.6 passes received per game. That improvement (61.7 percent) ranks sixth-best in the NBA.

Once he gets the ball, that is leading to more potential assists for him as well.

Dallas is outscoring opponents by 21.3 points per 100 possessions when both Christie and Klay Thompson are on the court. Thompson is shooting 5-of-7 (71.4 percent) on 3-pointers after passes from Christie.

"I've been incredibly impressed with Max. What a great addition," Thompson said. "He has such a bright future in this league ... He has a beautiful jump shot, great arc on the ball, backspin, and [you] can't leave him open. He's been a pleasant surprise."

Thompson added that Christie has that "clutch gene" during one of his recent postgame walk-off interview as well.

It remains more than clear that Christie was more than just a throw-in for salary-matching purposes

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