However, there is still a lot of noise from the media as well as from current NBA players about some of Dallas’ recent offseason acquisitions, as NBA players have more free time than they do at any other time of the year to make radio, television, and podcast appearances.
While many analysts have coveted Dallas’ marquee free agent signing of Klay Thompson, we’ve already seen a fair share of former and current players dispel the notion that Thompson made the right decision by going to Dallas or that he’ll find success with the Mavericks.
As surprising as this may be to people who follow the Mavericks closely, some individuals who don’t keep up with the Mavericks as diligently may not understand how impactful adding a tried-and-true movement shooter to Dallas’ offense could be.
The most recent individual to buy stock into that claim is former Maverick fan-favorite Seth Curry, as the current Charlotte Hornets guard went on NBC Sports Bay Area television during the American Century Championship golf tournament to say that Thompson will face a “little adjustment” by playing with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving compared to playing with Draymond Green and Stephen Curry.
Curry also said “It don’t feel right” when asked about seeing Thompson in a Mavericks uniform on a Warriors podcast with NBC Sports, so he clearly doesn’t seem the most optimistic about Thompson panning out in Dallas.
Curry doesn’t appear to be holding any sort of ill-will towards Dallas with these statements despite being shipped off from the Mavericks multiple times in his career, but his claims do seem to express doubt as to whether Thompson can fit as seamlessly within Dallas’ offense as he did in Golden State.
Stephen Curry and Draymond Green running split-action and pick-and-roll actions together worked extremely well in tandem with Golden State’s off-ball actions that they ran for Thompson throughout his tenure there, but that’s not to say that the Mavericks can’t implement their own off-ball actions within their offensive system to feed Thompson open looks from Doncic and Irving.
Only time will tell to see how Thompson fares in Dallas, but this take from Curry seems fairly naive at face value, even if he’s not entirely wrong about Thompson coming to Dallas being a drastic change of pace for him after having spent his previous 13 seasons in Golden State.
Thompson and the Mavericks will have an opportunity to prove the doubters wrong this coming fall, as they can’t get derailed by outside noise on their quest for a championship this coming season, especially after getting so close to their ultimate goal last June.