"JKidd got a**hole in him" - Former Knicks forward predicts Mavericks' strategy for Steph Curry vs Klay Thompson face-off
Klay Thompson's first game against the Golden State Warriors in a Dallas Mavericks jersey is a highly anticipated event. After playing the first 13 seasons of his career with the Warriors, Thompson decided to take his talents to Dallas and play with Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic.
While Klay won't face the Warriors until Nov. 12, the co-hosts of Gil's Arena are already talking about how the former Splash Bro will perform. Ex-New York Knicks forward Kenyon Martin, one of the co-hosts, thinks the former Warrior will get "35 shots."
Everyone else agreed with Martin's take, with some saying that this exorbitant amount of shots will be approved by Mavs head coach Jason Kidd himself.
"J Kidd got a**hole in him," Martin added. "He's gonna make sure [Klay Thompson] gets all the shots."
There was a time when the idea of Klay Thompson playing for a different team other than the Golden State Warriors was unimaginable. After all, the Warriors drafted him and helped him develop into a five-time All-Star.
Also, he was an instrumental part of the four titles that the franchise has won in the past decade.
He and Steph Curry were once considered the deadliest backcourt in the league, primarily due to their one-two combo on offense. However, they were also a formidable defensive duo.
Now, Steph and Klay are broken up. While this marks the end of an iconic era, it could potentially give birth to an exciting rivalry in the Western Conference.
How will Klay Thompson fit into the Mavericks' lineup?
Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic are undoubtedly the top dogs in the Dallas Mavericks' roster. However, the two of them alone will not be enough if this squad hopes to return to the NBA Finals. Having key contributors like Klay Thompson will be instrumental.
For most of his career, Klay was known as a shooting guard, but he fits the profile of a swingman. This means he can play the role of the shooting guard or the small forward.
One option is for him to start as the SF with Luka and Kyrie filling both the backcourt positions. This will make it harder for defenses to focus their defense on just one player.
Alternatively, Kyrie can slip back to playing the point guard with Klay Thompson as the two and Luka as the three.
In this current era, Luka is one of those players who can be played in the frontcourt or the backcourt. While he seems to be at his best when he is playing on the ball, allowing Kyrie to be the primary ballhandler occasionally will make it harder for defenses to lock in on the Mavericks' game plan.
Another option is for Klay to come off the bench. As a sparkplug, he can sub in at either wing position and provide quick scoring bursts.
Jason Kidd could do some experiments with the Mavericks' lineup early on in the season to see how to integrate Klay Thompson into his offense. As such, fans might see some surprising lineup changes from time to time.