Having already lost key pieces like Derrick Jones Jr. and Tim Hardaway Jr., the Dallas Mavericks were quietly going backwards more quickly than they had been during their embarrassing NBA Finals elimination in Game 5.
Say what you want about Dallas being a two-man team (it’s mostly true), but it needs at least three guys to get out of the way while Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving work their magic.
And that’s Klay Thompson’s specialty.
The five-time All-Star and four-time champion isn’t what he used to be. Far from it, in fact.
Is he still capable of making half a dozen three-pointers in a given quarter? Absolutely.
That’s about all the Mavericks ask of their non-core supporting cast these days.
Do you think they could have used Thompson’s 38.7% three-point shooting against the Celtics in a series where Maxi Kleber (1-of-6), Jones (3-of-12) and PJ Washington (6-of-22) combined to shoot 25.0% from three? Hardaway and Jaden Hardy combined to make ONE long-range shot in all four losses.
Doncic (11 of 45) and Irving (8 of 29) weren’t exactly Jayson Tatum, much less Stephen Curry, from beyond the arc.
Enter Thompson.
On his worst days, Thompson is just as off-target as Hardaway. Surely those who saw his swan song in Golden State — the 0-of-10 overall/0-of-6 3-pointer — dream breaker in sacramento in a Western Conference play-off game, can attest to that.
Unfortunately, many will remember his final act and his disappointment. Or at least believe that this is what became of the sixth best three-point shooter of all time in the NBA.
And that is a mistake.
Has the 34-year-old lost a step? Who knows? He has never dribbled past a player in his life.
Is his court vision blurry? What court vision? You could argue that Thompson has been the worst guard in the NBA since he joined the league in 2011.
Of the 21 players who have attempted 5,000 or more three-pointers in their careers, Thompson has the fewest assists…with 234. And we’re talking about a lot of offensive “black holes” here: hello, JR Smith, Kyle Korver and Eric Gordon.
And has he lost a few inches of verticality? How do you know? A 2.08 meter player, constantly criticized by his father Mychal, has a lower career rebounding average (3.5) than Kemba Walker.
If Thompson’s arrival hurts the Mavericks, it will be because after two major surgeries in the last five years, he is no longer the perimeter defender he once was. Players have dribbled around him for the last three seasons.
But it’s not so bad when you have Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II behind you. Just ask Doncic.
Meanwhile you add a guy who remains one of the best catch-and-shooters in the league on a team that plans its offense to maximize those opportunities. And history tells us he will do so without complaint, as demonstrated last season when a future Hall of Famer was demoted to second on a non-playoff roster and responded with the league’s second-best scoring average among backups (19.8).
Make no mistake: even at his advanced age, Klay Thompson can shut up and stand in a corner with the best of them.
And that’s not a criticism.
