Klay Thompson Fills a Void the Mavericks Desperately Needed

Klay Thompson Fills a Void the Mavericks Desperately Needed

the Dallas Mavericks just had a great off season it’s very hard for any team whether you win or you lose in the NBA Finals to then improve your team going into the next season but I think the Dallas Mavericks did an excellent job doing so Klay Thompson was added on to the team taking a three-year $50 million deal to sign with the Mavericks he had offers Elsewhere for more money but he decided to play with the Mavericks to play with LCA donic to play with Kyrie Irvin to play Under coach Jason kid and it’s a great fit I feel like everybody is overthinking it when it it shouldn’t be this hard to think about it really shouldn’t Klay Thompson is one of the best shooters ever and you’re pairing him up with Luca donic and Kyrie Irving you can argue that clay was overextended in his role as as being the second offensive option in Golden State these past couple of Seasons but even then Klay was averaging 18 to 19 points a night just last season not this past season but two seasons ago when Steph Curry was out due to injury Klay Thompson was averaging 25 points per game on great efficiency Klay Thompson is still a great player and getting him for 16 to 17 million annually is a steal of a contract for a player as good as him I think people are overthinking it because the view and image we have of the Dallas Mavericks is their defense their defense was a big reason and you can argue the biggest reason why they made the NBA Finals they lost Derek Jones Jr and that’s a big loss I love Derrik Jones Jr I wish he could have stayed with the Dallas Mavericks but I think you signed a player better than him in Naji Marshall Naji Marshall I think is marginally better than Derrik Jones Jr I think the separator is their shooting Naji Marshall just had a great year shooting the ball we’ll see if that sticks because last year was the first year that he had a great year shooting the basketball but Naji Marshall is a 67 220lb Wing he can guard one through four he’s excellent at stealing the ball he’s a better rebounder than Derek Jones Jr and just to talk about Naji Marshall he finished 91st percentile in defensive EPM he’s a pick pocket king he’s great at anticipating where the ball’s going to be that’s why he gets so many steals he shot 41% on wide open threes 40% on catch and shoot threes and 42% on Corner threes the biggest question with him like I mentioned earlier is can he sustain that level of shooting playing in Dallas was that year an outlier year or can you count on that level of shooting moving forward but looking at the contract he signed in Dallas compared to Derrik Jones Jr and what he signed with the Clippers Naji Marshall signed a three-year $27 million deal Derek Jones Jr signed a three-year $30 million deal with the Clippers and he changed agents a week before free agency and it made things complicated for the Mavericks to retain him because of that because there’s some rule that you have to wait like 15 days or something but even that I don’t know how he got a a deal so fast with the Clippers e even then Naji Marshall is being paid less than Derrick Jones Jr and I think he’s a better player with with how great dere J Jones Jr and that’s no disrespect to Dereck Jones Jr because what he did in Dallas should be applauded and should be praised and should be recognized but I’m just calling it how I see it I I even if you think Derrick Jones J is a better player they’re like neck and neck it really doesn’t matter it’s a lateral move you just replace jerck Jones Jr with a player that is just as good as him Nico Harrison was also able to trade Tim Hardway Jr and get off of his salary to the Pistons for Quinton Grimes who last year had a terrible year shooting the ball but as a Knicks fan I’ve seen him grow in this league and I’ve seen him at his best and at his best he’s a 40% sniper from three who can also defend at a very high level at the point of attack and like I mentioned earlier the Mavericks got Klay Thompson it was ass Sonic Trey Josh Green is leaving he’s going to Charlotte who knows who golden state is getting as of right now but Klay Thompson is going to the Dallas Mavericks and it baffles me just how many people think it’s a step backwards did people not see the NBA Finals did people not watch how the Dallas Mavericks lost I know a big deal is made about Luca Don’s defense in game three he got fouled out and oh you can never win a championship with him in this level of Defense all these overreactions if you look at the stats the Boston Celtics had an offensive rating of 112 in the NBA Finals it was their lowest offensive rating of any series they had in the NBA Playoffs the Mavericks lost the finals because they couldn’t shoot I think their starters combined were 21% on wide open threes they shot 30% or below on wide open threes as a team or open threes the reason they lost in the finals was because nobody could shoot the ball and that includes Kyrie Irving because in every game in Boston he’s stunk it up so you’re telling me you’re adding one of the best Shooters in history in Klay Thompson to a team that features Luca donic and Kyrie Irving and it’s not an upgrade yes it it might be a downgrade defensively because Derrick Jones Jr was Elite last season Klay Thompson is not the same level of Defender he once was he is not he’s not a cone either and a lot of the Mavericks defense is not predicated on just keeping your man in front of you a lot of the Dallas Mavericks defense is predicated on funneling players to their Rim protectors and giving offenses shots that aren’t the most efficient like when we saw the series against OKC they forced sgaa into mid-range shots and SGA is great at taking those but that is a harder shot than shooting a three-point shot or getting to the basket and S was El lead to get into the basket and against Dallas he didn’t shoot well around the rim because they were stationing their Rim protectors at The Rim Dallas’s whole defensive philosophy is about funneling offensive players to the rim protectors so I I think think the upgrade in offense overshadows the downgrade in defense when you add a player like Klay Thompson who can average 20 any given night and who can rain down five threes and get hot I mean it’s it’s massive for a team like Dallas that wants to make it back to the NBA finals and hopefully win it this time around I don’t know why anybody’s overthinking it this was a great move and he signed for a good amount of money to the point that was not an overpay either let’s just look at it like this and I just want to compare these players from a minut distribution standpoint Derek Jones Jr now becomes Klay Thompson Josh Green now turns into Naji Marshall so far we can agree Kay is better than Derrick Jones Jr and Naji Marshall is better than Josh green and Tim Hardway Jr has turned into Quinton Grimes you can argue Tim Hardway Jr is better than Quinton Grimes neither here or there it doesn’t matter Tim Harvey Jr did not play in the playoffs for the Mavericks at all so I don’t really care the Mavericks got better at two spots by getting Klay Thompson and Naji Marshall they added shooting which is what they desperately needed even though defense got them to the finals the best version of a team when you’re surrounding a team around Luca donic is a team that is Elite on offense that is going to be the best version of Dallas because LCA is an offensive Superstar Klay Thompson helps that and he helps out an offense that can get very stagnant his movement off the ball on screens is going to be huge for causing distractions on other sides of the Court while Kyrie or Luca have the ball in their hands and are creating it’s going to cause disruption it’s going to cause easier looks for Luca and Kyrie Clay is going to get easier looks as well because now he’s playing next to two offensive Superstars this was an awesome move there there not many times that a team gets better after making the NBA Finals but I think the Dallas Mavericks just did that and to be clear that does not mean that the Mavericks are going to make the finals again they very well could I wouldn’t be surprised but ultimately I think this version of the Mavericks we’re going to see will be a better team than last year’s Dallas Mavericks even if they don’t make the finals I I am still firm in saying that statement because sometimes you can be better but the teams around you also get better so that’s why you don’t make the finals but the Dallas Mavericks if healthy they’ll have as good a chance as anybody to make it back to the NBA finals and they’re easily a top two team in the west I think OKC is a little bit more talented but Dallas has more star power and that very much could sway a series if they met them once again

Listen on Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/6nyFx4MUXucjKSUPvpLJf0⁠

Listen on Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-joel-moran-show/id1606259481