The era of the Splash Brothers has come to an end.
Klay Thompson intends to join the Dallas Mavericks, reportedly agreeing to a 3-year, $50 million deal, that is a component of a multi-team sign and trade. The deal would send shooting guard Josh Green to the Hornets and Thompson to the Mavericks. Although some outlets have reported as if it’s a done deal, that may not be the case. Anthony Slater of The Athletic reports the Warriors have not yet agreed to their end of the three-team deal and could hold it up to obtain an additional asset at the proverbial eleventh hour.
Later Monday afternoon the deal was finally consummated as Golden State was able to extract their pound of flesh, via a pair of second-round draft picks.
Thompson was a 5-time All-Star ( 2015-2019), 2-time All-NBA performer (2015, 2016), and made an NBA All-Defense Team (2019) before losing two seasons due to suffering an ACL late in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA and suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon as he was training for the 2020-21 season. Thompson came back and was statistically productive, averaging 20.4 and 21.9 points per game in his first two seasons back from injury, however, he didn’t quite seem like the same player he was pre-injuries. This was particularly noticeable both in terms of his overall efficiency which at .429 and .436 in those seasons, were his lowest shooting numbers since Thompson’s second year in the league, but also his shot profile which is now more dependent than at any point in his career on three-point shooting. In his first full season back from those devastating injuries, Thompson attempted a career-high 731 shots from downtown. Additionally, and was to be expected his on-ball defense has also taken a step back.
In the 2023-24 season, Thompson’s inconsistent play and the emergence and increasing reliance on rookie Brandon Podzemski pushed Thompson to come off the pine for a stretch of the season.
That is not to say that Klay Thompson will not be a positive addition to the Mavericks. Even with his turbulent play this season he still averaged 17.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. The 38.7% he shot from downtown would be the second-best on the Mavericks, trailing only Kyrie Irving’s 41.1%. His shooting would help a Mavericks team that attempted the second-highest three-point attempts per game at 39.5 but ranks 13th in percentage, 36.9%, connecting on 14.6 threes per contest.
Thompson still stretches the floor and defenses will have to account for him. He can be very effective and impactful without the ball in his hands, which will allow him to work seamlessly with his two ball-dominant co-stars, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
Klay, while not the defender he was before nearly having his career ended, is still competent and willing and is still far from the turnstile that is his new All-Star point guard teammate Doncic.
