Klay Thompson still has something to prove to the NBA

Klay Thompson is one of the greatest shooters in NBA History. The 5-time all-star and 4-time NBA Champion holds multiple records including:

- Most three pointers made in a regular season game (14)

- Most three pointers made in a playoff game (11)

- Most points in a quarter (37)

- T-most consecutive seasons with 200 made threes (seven, tied with Stephen Curry)

- First player in NBA history to score 60 points in under 30 minutes

The firepower is there and Thompson is easily the most important free agency signing in Dallas Mavericks history, as one of our writers detailed earlier this summer. He's a career 41.2% three-point shooter in the regular season and playoffs and has managed to average at least 17.9 points per game in each of his last three seasons despite suffering two major injuries between 2019 and 2021.

In July, he left his home of 13 years, the Golden State Warriors , to join forces with the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas signed the sharpshooter to a 3-year, $50 million deal and Thompson said at his introductory press conference that he's ready to help the Mavericks get "over the hump" after Dallas fell short in the NBA Finals last season, falling 4-1 to the Boston Celtics .

Dallas lost that series for a multitude of reasons, but a major roadblock was the team's shooting in the first two games. Non-Luka Dončić Mavericks shot 5/32 (15.6%) from three in the first two games of the series in Boston (Dončić converted eight of his 21 attempts, a 38% rate).

Now, Thompson looks to fill that void. He said he's excited to play next to Dončić and Kyrie Irving and said this season is about being in the best shape he can be and helping the team however possible, whether that's through the knowledge he's gained on four championship teams or producing big scoring performances. He knows he'll get more looks in this offense.

"I don't think you can stick to me as much as you could in the past with guys like Luka and Kai out there," he said at his introductory press conference.

Biggest Question The biggest question marks around Thompson are related to his health. He's a proven scorer, shooter and defender, but he enters the 2024-2025 season at 34 years old and is on the wrong side of two major knee injuries that took away two full seasons and the fourth quarter of an NBA Finals game.

In his two-and-a-half seasons back, Thompson has stayed productive. He's managed to stay the level of shooter he was pre-injury — as shown by his 3.6, 4.4, and 3.5 made threes per game stats over those seasons, the three highest marks of his career — but the efficiency has dipped ever so slightly. Before injury, he eclipsed 40% in every season of his career. Since, he's shot under 40% twice — 38.5% in 32 games in the 2021-2022 season and 38.7% last season.

Now, to be fair to Thompson, last year's shooting dip may have been affected by his souring relationship with the Warriors as the franchise asked him to come off the bench for the first time since his rookie campaign. Once he regained his starting role full time, he returned to his 40% efficiency in March and April.

His last memory in Golden State was not a pretty one, an 0-10 performance in the play-in game against the Sacramento Kings, the last game of the dynasty trio of Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green. Thompson now heads to Dallas looking for a fresh start.

Best Case Scenario For Thompson and the Mavericks, the best-case scenario is he fills the holes the team showed last year, and he helps lead the team to its first NBA championship since the 2010-2011 season. The team brought him to help them get "over the hump" and he hopes to accomplish that. If he can do so, he'll join an elite list of NBA players to win five NBA championships and Mavericks fans will rejoice as they get to watch their second championship run in franchise history.

There are marks to watch for along the way. Obviously with injuries, Thompson may see extended minutes so the best-case scenario would be for Thompson to stay relatively healthy and be 100% ready to go for the playoffs. His defense has taken a step back since the injuries, but anything he can add on that end will help as Dallas will be switching up its defensive game plan with Thompson replacing Derrick Jones Jr in the starting lineup.

Worst Case Scenario With all the optimism heading into this season, which for the first time in a long time feels fully justified, there is a chance this pairing doesn't work. Thompson could start to decline as he enters his age-35 season. As with any player, there's a chance he suffers an injury, and there's always the possibility he doesn't gel with the Mavericks' offense. Dallas has never had a shooter quite like this, but that doesn't seem likely.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to health. If Thompson plays 70 games or close to that, it should be a successful season for both him and the Mavericks.

Season goal My season goals for Thompson would be simple: go with the flow and build the chemistry with Dončić and Irving. He's one of the greatest shooters in NBA history so the first part of the season may be rough as the team works him into their system, but no one should panic if it takes a minute for it the trio to gel like Curry, Thompson, and Green did. If he can stay at the ~3.5 threes per game and 40% efficiency he's hovered around his entire career, this pairing will be great for both him and the Mavericks.

At the end of the day, Thompson's signing with the Mavericks has left Dallas fans eager for the start of the 2024-2025 season and for good reason. He seemingly fills one of the biggest holes for a team that was three wins away from an NBA championship just three months ago. Thompson's personality should fit in nicely with Dončić and head coach Jason Kidd, who has proven himself to be one of the better player coaches in the league.