It’s Klay Thompson’s first day with the Dallas Mavericks. What can fans expect from him?
The Dallas Mavericks added several talented players in the offseason, and none has a higher pedigree than four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson.
What did the Mavs have to say about Thompson’s fit with the team during media day?
Head coach Jason Kidd acknowledged that the Mavs were guard-heavy and said that the team will have competition for what he deemed two open starting spots.
“So I think we look at training camp and you just talk to the guys before I came out, we’re going to instigate competition in training camp, we’re going to instigate competition and practice to make each other better, to make the game easier, and so we’ll see how that pans out. Who starts? We know that’s two guys or three guys that are going to start,” Kidd said on Monday during the team’s annual media day.
Those three starters seem to be Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively who Kidd said would get the starting nod at center despite calling it a competition between the sophomore and Daniel Gafford.
That leaves two starting spots up for grabs with the obvious choices being Thompson, PJ Washington and Naji Marshall.
Thompson provides the best offense of the three and is still one of the league’s elite three-point shooters, averaging 39% of his nine three-point attempts per game.
Doncic explained what Thompson could bring to the Mavs.
“Unbelievable. I mean, he’s a four-time champion. He’s an amazing player. So I was very excited. He signed with us, and I can’t wait to play with him,” said Doncic. “I mean, you basically can’t help off him... because if you leave him wide open he’s gonna make it, so I think his spacing is going to be crucial for us.”
However, starting three guards could make the Mavs defense’s job trickier especially with the departure of defensive ace Derrick Jones Jr. to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Kidd acknowledged that lineups with Doncic, Irving and Washington would require a commitment on the defensive end, but said team defense would matter more than individual one-on-one defense.
“It’s gonna be a committee I think this league is about matchups, being able to get the matchups right, Luka’s gonna have to guard someone and that’s just part of being the best in the world and I don’t think he’s done enough of that. But Kai and Klay, there’s going to be a committee of guys that are going to have to guard. But the beauty about our defense is that we’re here to help each other,” said Kidd, “So there’s going to be nights where Luka is going to have to guard maybe someone a little bit quicker... It’ll be a great challenge for our group and we look forward to that.”
Some of the Mavs other offseason additions, including Marshall and Quentin Grimes, should be able to offset the loss of Jones Jr.
Thompson agreed with Doncic’s opinion on how he can add to the offense and said he wanted to help the team finish what they started in last year’s NBA Finals.
“I think my game compliments the roster very well, especially the perimeter scoring aspect, I think I help space the floor for guys like LuKa and Kyrie doing their thing and just being here this week and playing with our team and doing chemistry with our big guys and our guards, giving our offense kind of a whole new dimension, and I can see us, yeah. I mean, that’s why I was here in the first place, because I saw how close they were to winning the championship,” said Thompson, “ I’ll work my hardest to try and get us back there.”
The Mavs and Thompson begin their quest for back-to-back finals appearances when they open their season against the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 24.
This story was originally published October 1, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
