Dream or reality of the Dallas Mavericks

After reaching the NBA Finals last season, the Dallas Mavericks have a clear goal for this season.

“Championship,” Luka Doncic said during Monday’s media day. “That’s the goal.”

While the Mavericks came close to being crowned champions in 2024, that doesn’t seem to have happened. They lost to the Boston Celtics in five most uncompetitive games. Luka Doncic was the team’s leading scorer and rebounder and was second in assists, but his supporting cast paled in comparison to Boston’s overwhelming team.

So, despite a surprising run to the Finals, the Mavericks entered the offseason knowing that further improvements were needed around Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Hopefully, Klay Thompson, their prized free agent, will be the last person to lift them to the top.

“I feel like our dreams can come true because he’s here now,” Irving said.

Thompson’s new teammates and coaches raved about his three-point shooting and championship-winning experience. Thompson, 34, won four championships in 13 seasons with the Golden State Warriors and ranks sixth in NBA history with 2,481 three-pointers made.

According to ESPN, “The Mavs prioritized adding a 3-point threat after struggling from long range in the Finals.”

Struggling that’s an understatement. Dallas hit just 31.6% of its three-pointers in the final, including 29.4% on the layup.

Thompson is shooting 41.3% from three-point range in his career and made 38.7% of his three-pointers above the break last season.

The Mavericks’ offense was efficient, but there was too much paint-by-numbers. No team has been more dependent on generating results corner 3s than the Mavericks and soared when PJ Washington and Derrick Jones Jr. they had a good run. However, when they cooled down (like in the finale), the Mavs became too one-dimensional.

Adding Thompson to the Mavericks mix will add a dynamic layer. Thompson is an expert at moving without the ball and finding opportunities to shoot. He is an effective marksman in every area of ​​the pitch and will open up new passing options for Doncic and Irving beyond just passing the ball on corner kicks.

“When you talk about Klay, he will go down in history as one of the greatest scorers of all time,” coach Jason Kidd said. “Having him on our side just makes it easier offensively. Spacing is an important thing in our league.

The space is big, but so is the defense. And that was a huge part of the Mavericks advancing to the Finals. Before the All-Star break, Dallas was 19th in DRTTG (116.2) compared to 13th (112.1) after the break. The Mavericks’ defense improved further in the playoffs, holding opponents to 110.7 points per 100 possessions, which would have been good for third in the regular season.

It is assumed that Jones’ place in the starting lineup will be taken by Thompson. Offensively, a big improvement. Defensively? Hmm, not really. Jones was Dallas’ top defender, consistently taking on some of the toughest assignments and setting the tone by embracing his role. Thompson hasn’t been a high-level defender since he tore his ACL in the 2019 finals.

The trio of Doncic, Irving, and Thompson cannot be trusted to defend when attacked. Much will be asked of Washington and Dereck Lively II in this starting group, but Kidd emphasized the need for defense by committee and suggested that duties will be rotated based on matchups.

“I know everyone thinks I’m joking, but Luka’s going to have to watch someone,” Kidd joked.

The Mavericks decided to address their needs on offense, but in doing so, they created a hole on defense.

If that doesn’t work, Kidd can always move Thompson to the bench and replace him with Naji Marshall or Quentin Grimes. But those decisions helped lead to Thompson’s eventual departure from Golden State. Thompson didn’t join the Mavericks to come off the bench, and that’s certainly not the vision for the game in Dallas.

With these three, their offense could be the best in the league, and a great offense could help elevate an average defense. It’s a dream in Dallas. We’ll see if this is reality.

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