The Dallas Mavericks made the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011 this season, and after falling short to the Boston Celtics, they've been incredibly active during free agency to try and get back there. Dallas has signed forward Naji Marshall, offloaded Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Pistons for young guard Quentin Grimes and landed four-time champion Klay Thompson in a reported sign-and-trade deal with the Golden State Warriors.
Assuming the deal to get Thompson goes through as is, the Mavericks have a projected starting lineup next season of:
- Luka Doncic
- Kyrie Irving
- Klay Thompson
- PJ Washington
- Dereck Lively II
On paper, there's a ton of talent there and a lot to like about that starting group. We've already seen that Doncic and Irving can coexist, and lead a team to the NBA Finals, and Lively had a rookie season that will practically force him into the starting lineup for next season. Washington had his moments in the postseason on both ends of the floor, and when you add in someone of Thompson's caliber, it's a lineup that you would take on most nights in this league.
But free agency isn't without its caveats. The Mavericks lost Derrick Jones Jr., their best defender last season, to the Clippers, and they also traded Josh Green as part of that Thompson deal. Green isn't that big of a loss, but the swap of Jones and Green for Marshall and Thompson doesn't feel like as big of an upgrade as it should.
This isn't necessarily a knock on Thompson, but rather the problems that he doesn't entirely solve for the Mavericks. Against the Celtics, the Mavericks had no answer defensively for the multitude of offensive threats they possessed on the perimeter. Even with Washington and Jones in the lineup, the Mavericks really lacked a point-of-attack defender. Someone who could disrupt Boston's actions on the perimeter and make life more difficult for the five-out offense they run.
Thompson certainly isn't that, and since missing two seasons with significant injuries, he hasn't been the same level of defender he was during the prime years of Golden State's dynasty. The All-Defensive version of Thompson from the 2018-19 season doesn't look to be running through the door any time soon. He's still a good defender, but not great, and in a lineup that features two weak defenders in Doncic and Irving, the Mavericks are going to need Thompson to be operating closer to great. With Thompson's best defensive years likely behind him, that feels like a really tall task for someone that didn't have to overcompensate for multiple weak defenders around him.
On the offensive side of the ball, Thompson is an obvious upgrade to any shooter on the roster. Even in a down year this season, he still shot 38.7% from deep on nine attempts per game. Had he been on the Mavericks this past season, that would've ranked second on the team among players who shot five or more triples a game. But even that is going to be an adjustment for Thompson, who is coming from an offensive system that prides itself in moving the ball and getting guys open in off-ball actions. That's the complete opposite of what Dallas does.
The Mavericks' heliocentric system that relies on Doncic and Irving pulling multiple defenders means Thompson's often going to be relegated to standing in the corner waiting to get a pass to shoot a 3-pointer. There's certainly worse ways to make a living, but not everyone enjoys playing that way. Obviously, he was sold on whatever the Mavericks were pitching him, so perhaps Nico Harrison assured him there will be some sort of compromise or change in how the Mavericks play.
It's not like it's impossible for the Mavericks to change their style, we've seen them use off-ball screens to get guys open. That's how Hardaway Jr. was used over the years, and Thompson is certainly an upgrade from him. But it's going to be a major adjustment, even if Doncic is the best in the league at generating wide open shots for his teammates.
And it's not like Thompson's just a 3-point shooter, even though that's his greatest asset. He can score off the dribble, something the Mavericks certainly lacked in their clash with the Celtics. Irving and Doncic shouldered too much of the offensive creation, and Thompson could alleviate that problem. But it's not like he did a ton of that with the Warriors, either. It will give him a chance to expand that part of his game, but it will be another adjustment for him and Dallas.
The offensive questions aren't as important as the defensive side of the ball. That's where the Mavericks really needed to upgrade, and as great of an offensive talent that Thompson is, he doesn't address that concern. And unless there's another trade in the works for the Mavericks, it looks like they'll be relying heavily on Thompson's defensive abilities next season. That's a big gamble to take, one that we may look back on and wonder if just retaining Jones Jr. and somehow getting Marshall would've been the better option. But we've seen this team take risks that have paid off before -- like trading for Irving -- and given that they gave up very little to get him, and even received a couple second-round picks in return, it might be a risk worth taking.
