NBA Today | “Klay-Luka-Kyrie is unstoppable BIG 3” – Perk: Mavs will back to NBA Finals next season

NBA Today | “Klay-Luka-Kyrie is unstoppable BIG 3” – Perk: Mavs will back to NBA Finals next season

back after a brief holiday Hiatus welcome into NBA today there is so much for us to get into beaming in from home it is the one and only zacko the Sanford sisters they got a coordinate Ramona shelburn I’m Malika Andrews let’s get right to it there’s so much to get to Klay Thompson he was introduced with the Dallas Mavericks this morning officially turning the page from the four-time Champs and his storied career with golden state with number 11 currently taken by Kyrie Irving what do we think of number 31 here for Klay Thompson something that maybe just going to take a little bit of getting used to just like the logo on the front take a listen to Clay on why he ultimately decided to leave the Warriors there was times last year was tough where it wasn’t as joyful had been in the past and um it’s nice to kind of shed that and have a whole new Fresh Start whole new group of guys get to know and uh co-workers so a whole new city it’s uh it’s really cool and I’m going to embrace the heck out of this opportunity sometimes you know breakups are necessary to uh do what’s right and I’m not the first athlete in the NBA to go through this I’m very grateful for my time at uh Golden State but um I just felt like you know moving on could just re-energize me and uh do something special for the rest of my career and Dallas was so attracted because of the young players they have the style of play when I was watching the playoffs and I’m watching the mass you know make a run for the championship uh I just saw myself fitting in really well with this team and the personnel and um they look like they have fun playing with each other they play for each other and that was very attractive for me and um that’s really all I needed to see and there’s mutual interest there and that’s why I’m here I mean clay seems excited right to try something a little new try and help LCA Kyrie company get over the hump after losing in the finals last month so Mr low let’s get the low down here how much better does Thompson actually make the Dallas Mavericks I think the Mavs are probably a little bit better with Tim Hardaway Josh Green Jerick Jones Jr out clay in Quinton Grimes in Naji Marshall in I think they’re probably a little bit better and their upside is higher because their shooting is going to be so much better with Clay on the floor he is going to Feast on open looks from Luca and Kyrie offensively it’s going to be a great fit I do think there are some questions defensively out they lost their best point of attack Defender the guy they would put on point guards Derek Jones Jr who’s going to replace that role on the team you can’t ask Kyrie to do that game in and game out can you close games defensively with Clay Luca and Kyrie all on the floor together I think it’s fair to ask those questions so I think they’re better a little bit better not a ton better yeah I was actually thinking as you were talking Zach a little a lot a t I’m right in the middle per usual I think they got a lot better but so did the rest the thank you a little lot a ton I think they got a lot better because the reason why they struggled in the NBA Finals was the lack of catch out there and he fits that seamlessly but there are other issues that they have to deal with like their defense and also another issue overall is that their lack of offensive versatility down the stretch when they went heavy ISO ball between Luca and Kyrie they just didn’t have many options once going up against the Boston Celtics defense so they need to find more versatility amongst their star players but fixing that problem that got you to the NBA finals and you fell short Klay Thompson fixes a lot of that I’m excited to see what this team does to grow because one thing I like is Luca the maturation of Luca donich a lot of people point to the influence of Kyrie Irving right now you’re adding another person with four championships on the perimeter to add to that experience that you can only imagine that Luca is going to continue to be better and he was already Sensational last year so I talked to niik Harrison who’s the general manager of the Mavericks he said flat out we got clay for June we need him in June yeah how many games did the Mavericks have at in the in those finals where they just just a play here a play there a wide open shot that they couldn’t hit there I mean you need Championship experience and T you’re talking about it how important Kyrie was for Luca and how he calmed him down when we when I asked luuka what did Kyrie do for you he said he gave me a sense of calm which is look at Klay you know what Klay Thompson is like he’s Captain clay out on the phone I don’t know where he’s going to poke park park the boat Tris Lake Travis you know Texas right Texas knows um but but that’s Clay’s been there he’s been to the final so many times like they needed that professionalism they needed that experience and I think that’s why Clay is such a good I like that peace notion because playing also for June doesn’t mean that you have to play for October November January like play was a lot of pressure was on him over the last year this is a place where the pressure is taken off especially with his options potentially the Lakers where the Limelight would still be on him he’s looking for that piece and I think lastly when it comes to Styles this style is going to be great for clay because in Golden State they were the track meat Boys not just the slash Brothers they were the track meat boys they had to run around to get their shots he won’t have to do that that is probably more peaceful mentally especially as he’s trying to get his game all the way back well and Klay sort of mentioned the space that Kyrie and Luca will give him so his off ball movement being able to thrive with his three-point shooting the amount of attention that the other stars will get it’ll kind of allow him to find himself a little bit we’ve only been gone for a couple of days and everyone’s putting on new jerseys wasn’t the only player introduced to a new team this morning let’s just bounce around with the rest of the league shall we a little Coast to Coast new faces or rather familiar faces in new places we’re going to start with Mel Bridges who will wear the number one with the Nicks CH New York’s title odds they catapulted to Fourth after Bridges traded to New York do you think there are only three teams better in the entire NBA than the Knicks no but that doesn’t hurt the Nova Knicks because I do think that if you’re going to try to put the Sixers in the Celtics in category are you saying that they’re better than two or three teams that are the top of the West whether it’s the Timberwolves the Nuggets obviously we know OKC is coming in Dallas was just there so I’m not going to say no but that doesn’t mean the Nova Knicks won’t ball from the Texas gal to Texas because Chris Paul was officially introduced as the newest member of the San Antonio Spurs and Zach we know that every team sees their win total go up when they acquire the point God our Victor and the Spurs ready to make the playoffs this season don’t be so surprised I think they’re going to hang around the playoff race here’s a stat plus nine per 100 possessions with wemi Devin vasel and Trey Jones on the floor last season you put competent players around that dude and they’re going to win some games I think they’re going to be around 500 watch out Spurs are coming go Spurs go all right time for some California love the Kings they landed Demar de ro in three years $74 million contract and a sign in trade that’s according to our W and Tim bontemp so Ramona is D Ro enough to help Sacramento win their first playoff series since 2004 you know I love this for Sacramento because they traded they traded for more offense they they had they obviously had issues with injuries last year but they got smaller and that’s difficult in the Western Conference where everyone else is getting bigger losing Harrison Barnes in this trade is a difficult pill as swall it’s also still a little difficult to look at those inseason tournament courts but now that it appears like the dust maybe is settling at least a little bit this summer I’m just checking my phone for any more woe bombs before I say that out loud out uh who improved the most this off season knowing that you know some things can still happen here and there it won’t get reflected in their win total because they already won a lot of games but I think the Oklahoma City Thunder are indisputably the biggest winner of the off season again they won a ton of games that were the number one seed last year I’ll bet they’re going to be the favorites to be the number one seed again but their versatility in the playoffs went up a level swapping out Josh Giddy and bringing Alex Caruso who shot 41% on threes last year and is an all defense player and Isaiah hartenstein just brings a completely new dimension to their team helps him on the glass he can play next to Chad hren he’s a great passer and that fits with Chad it just gives them different looks different styles they didn’t have last year I think their ceiling got higher their playoff ceiling got higher the Thunder are here now to try to win the whole damn thing well when you said Undisputed Zach write down that word that Zach said real quick because did they acquire All Stars per se not necessarily I believe the OKC Thunder and the Philadelphia 76ers are neck and neck and I give the edge to Philly because they brought in All Stars yes the Thunder they solve their needs at the center position and also getting someone that is a competitive player in Alex cruso but the bigger needs for a championship team potentially is adding Paul George who fits seamlessly if you look at the way the offense and defense can go alongside Joel embiid and Tyrese Maxi that big three you’ve got the center you’ve got the wing and you’ve got the point guard and then on top of it the one that I think people are sleeping on fore for to for a for e for e

NBA Today | “Klay-Luka-Kyrie is unstoppable BIG 3” – Perk: Mavs will back to NBA Finals next season