It's time for Mavericks to have an uncomfortable Klay Thompson discussion

It's time for Mavericks to have an uncomfortable Klay Thompson discussion

The Dallas Mavericks are getting very little value from Klay Thompson this season, forcing them to consider sooner rather than later how to move forward without him. The team initially depended on Thompson to make their oversized and limited-spacing lineups functional, but the opposite may now be true — they might be better off reducing his minutes.

This year’s Mavericks seem constructed as if playmaking, shot creation, and floor spacing are less critical to success in the modern NBA. The roster is full of talented players like Anthony Davis and others, but the problem is structural: most of them are frontcourt players, leading to poor lineup balance.

Their most talented combination might still be the one that opened the season, featuring Flagg at point guard, Davis at power forward, and both P.J. Washington and Dereck Lively II on the floor together. Nonetheless, those lineups suffer from a severe lack of shooting, even if they dominate defensively and in the paint.

The idea was that Klay Thompson, one of the greatest shooters of all time, could fix that issue by stretching the floor and giving more room for Davis, Flagg, and Washington to score inside.

That theory would make sense if Thompson were still performing at his former elite level, but he no longer resembles the player he once was during his years next to Stephen Curry.

Author’s Summary

Dallas must confront the reality that Klay Thompson’s decline undermines their roster design and could force major lineup changes to stay competitive.

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