Max Christie does not need a new basketball identity so much as a larger one.
That was the useful takeaway from Thursday’s fifth Mavericks training-camp practice in Dallas. First-year NBA head coach Dusty May assessed Christie as more than a perimeter shooter waiting for a clean look. He highlighted Christie’s speed, quick first step and ability to defend both the player initiating an action and the movement developing away from the ball.
The distinction is important because those jobs test different parts of a player. Christie’s quickness can help him stay attached when the possession begins with a ballhandler. Away from the ball, he has to read the next movement, preserve his position and contribute before a pass turns a harmless rotation into a problem.
May’s defense of that wider skill set gives Christie a plausible path to staying useful even when he is not touching the ball.
It also keeps the jumper exactly where it belongs: near the center of the discussion.
Christie had already expressed a desire over the weekend to build a broader two-way reputation. Thursday’s practice did not treat that ambition as a rejection of his shooting. Instead, May’s assessment connected the pieces.
A credible outside shot gives Dallas a way to use Christie without handing him a large share of possessions. Defensive versatility makes those minutes more valuable once the ball moves to Kyrie Irving, Cooper Flagg or another creator.
That is the practical NBA math. A defender who cannot be ignored offensively forces an opponent to make a choice. Stay close and risk giving up a driving lane or a clean closeout attack.
Help elsewhere and invite Christie to punish the distance. The shot does not have to turn him into a featured scorer. It has to be respected enough to keep the floor from contracting around Dallas’ primary options.
The defensive side of the proposal fits the way May is discussing Flagg. May has pointed to Flagg’s strong instincts away from the ball and suggested that, in some matchups, Dallas may prefer not to place him on the first point-of-attack assignment.
That would leave Flagg free to help in other areas, while players such as Christie, Risacher and Marshall handle more of the initial perimeter burden. No coverage plan has been settled, but the division of labor is easy to understand.