Klay Thompson made a seismic shift in his career after signing with the Dallas Mavericks. He would have loved to finish his career with the Golden State Warriors, but after witnessing the franchise’s lack of interest in retaining him, the four-time NBA Champion turned to Luka Doncic and Co. So how will it look like for him to go up against his former squad for the first time in his career in the 2024-25 season?
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Gilbert Arenas speculated how Klay Thompson would perform when his Mavs take on the Dubs next season during a recent episode of Gil’s Arena. Since this is going to be a ‘Get Back game’ for the 34-year-old, Arenas expects Thompson to put on a show.
After Thompson’s exit, 21-year-old Brandon Podziemski will be tasked with the off-guard duties, which means he’ll most likely have the thankless job of guarding Thompson. Arenas posited that Podz stands no chance of limiting Klay’s offensive production. The 3x All-Star predicted,
“What’s that dude who gonna be replacing him? Podziemski is going to get his a** handed over to him when he got to play against Klay. Is you serious!”
Then Arenas pointed out that both Doncic and Irving excel in such “get back” games. As per the former Wizards star, the duo will ensure that Thompson gets a ton of shots up to relish his revenge against his former team.
“They [Dallas] gonna be feeding ‘im. There gonna be all kinds of drop twos, turn-around twos. He gonna take about 25 shots…This gonna be that get back game,” Arenas added.
Therefore, Agent Zero won’t be surprised if the former Warriors guard ends up with a massive score the next time the Mavs meet the Warriors. In fact, the entire Gil’s Arena crew predicted a massive showdown from Klay in that game.
Arenas even jokingly hinted that Luka Doncic might skip the game against the Dubs altogether so that his new teammate can have a 60+ point performance.
Overall, Gilbert Arenas expects Klay Thompson to excel in Dallas. He doesn’t believe in the media narrative that Klay is a ‘washed up’ star. On the contrary, Arenas thinks Thompson is a good fit for the Mavs.
Klay Thompson may be an automatic fit alongside Irving and Doncic
Accustomed to Steve Kerr’s coaching style for a decade or so, it may take some time for the 5x NBA All-Star to mesh with the Mavs superstar duo. However, Thompson is confident about his chances alongside them. In fact, unsurprisingly, it was the duo of Irving and Doncic that drew him to the team.
He knows that he will get even more open looks as defenders would be clinging to the electric backcourt duo. During his introductory press conference with the Mavericks, Thompson relayed his excitement of playing alongside two of the best scorers in the league’s history.
“I don’t think you can stick to me as much as you could do in the past with guys like Luka and Kyrie out there. That was attractive to me.”
There is a high chance that Thompson has one of the most efficient seasons in his already impressive shooting career. He is bound to get a lot of friendly looks in the Mavs offense, which can help him reinvigorate his fortunes. As for the Mavs, he can be the missing piece to win their first title since 2011.
