Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki drops 'no-brainer' take on Klay Thompson
After reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in 13 years, the Dallas Mavericks made a big addition to their roster this offseason when they acquired longtime Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Klay Thompson . Unsurprisingly, Dirk Nowitzki , the man who led the Mavs to their only title in franchise history, was a fan of the move.
Nowitzki played his entire 21-year career with the Mavericks before retiring in 2019, at which time he passed the proverbial baton to Luka Doncic as the franchise's new leader. Doncic led the Mavericks to a Western Conference Finals appearance in 2022 and, after a disappointing next season, got the Mavericks back to the Finals.
However, Doncic and Dallas, like in Nowitzki's first trip to the Finals in 2006, fell short. The loss seemingly spurred the team to remain aggressive in improving the roster, though, as the Mavericks immediately went out and lured Thompson away from the Warriors, with whom he had played the first 13 years of his career.
Although the Mavericks are just eight games into the season with Thompson and haven't hit their stride together , Nowitzki praised the offseason signing.
"I loved the move when he first came. That was a no-brainer," Nowitzki told local media [h/t Mavericks reporter Noah Weber]. "To have someone on the weak side like Klay, he's one of the best shooters of all time. But I think we saw in the Finals, that sometimes we need some shooting on the weak side, and who better than one of the greatest of all time? It's early, of course, but I think, so far, I think he's fitting in well, he's playing off the other guys, he's taking the shot ... He's so good defensively. So I think he's definitely helping us going forward here and hopefully have a long season."
Can Klay Thompson help lift Mavericks to first title since 2011?
At 34 and with an unfortunate history of severe lower-body injuries, Thompson's defense will continue to be questioned and likely tested by opponents. However, his shooting prowess is still among the best in the league.
Through eight games with the Mavericks, Thompson, the team's third-leading scorer, is averaging 14.5 points in 29.4 minutes per game. He is shooting 39.1% on 8.6 three-point attempts per game, both second-best on the team — Irving is currently shooting 54.5% on threes, while Doncic is averaging 9.9 three-point attempts per game.
Thompson has cooled off somewhat since his torrid three-game start to the year; Thompson made at least four triples in each game in that span, including during a 22-point team debut in the season opener. However, Thompson has made at least three three-pointers in each of the last two games, the last of which came in fewer than 25 minutes and was a 20-point win for Dallas.
The Mavericks certainly hope Thompson, a five-time All-Star who has made the sixth-most threes in NBA history, will be able to remain a hot shooter throughout the season and, particularly, during the postseason. Despite attempting the second-most triples per game in the league last season, the Mavericks were relatively average in making them.
Although they overcame the Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference playoffs, things got worse against the Boston Celtics in the Finals, where the Mavs shot just 31.6% as a team from beyond the arc. Specifically, Doncic, Irving, and P.J. Washington, the trio that shot nearly two-thirds of the team's total threes in the series, went cold and shot a collective 26%.
Thompson, whose Warriors fell to the Sacramento Kings in the Play-In last year, is a career 40.5% three-point shooter in the playoffs.
