Sport
Can Thompson Solve the Mavericks’ Scoring Puzzle?
Last season, the Dallas Mavericks surpassed everyone’s expectations and went from an arguable play-in team to the runner-ups in the NBA Finals.
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While Dallas’ performance in the NBA Finals disappointed considering they lost in five games, they showed flashes in that playoff run that they’d be around for years to come. While that playoff run cemented that Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are one of the best duos in the NBA, it also exposed that the Mavs needed more 3-point shooting.
Dallas shot 31.6 percent from downtown in the Finals against the Boston Celtics, and Tim Hardaway Jr., who was supposed to be their sharpshooter, struggled all playoffs long.
Thompson’s ability to hit tough shots off the catch will help Mavericks
Hardaway Jr. had a poor second half to the season, and one troubling stat of his will be thrown away due to him being traded to the Detroit Pistons, but also because the Mavs now have Klay Thompson on the roster. Dallas prioritized adding more shooting in the offseason, and they struck gold by landing Thompson.
When observing this chart by NBA University, Hardaway Jr. was shooting tons of contested catch-and-shoot shots, but his efficiency was way down. Hardaway Jr. was among the least efficient shooters on this list, and despite getting tons of these looks, he couldn’t cash them in.
Hardaway Jr. was never afraid to shoot tough shots, but his confidence didn’t result in him being as good of a shooter as he needed to be.
Now, look at Thompson’s position on the graph.
Thompson shot more contested catch-and-shoot shots than anyone in the league outside of Bojan Bogdanovic and Donte DiVincenzo and his efficiency was still above the group average. He excels at hitting tough shots, and the jump from Hardaway Jr. to Thompson is going to be massive when comparing them as shooters.
Thompson is unfazed by aggressive closeouts and doesn’t need much space to get his shot off. He can get his shot off at any time, and his addition to the roster alone will be a huge help when considering how inefficient Hardaway Jr. was on these shots throughout the season.
Thompson being a reliable option to knock down tough shots off the catch is going to be game-changing for the Mavs, and going from Hardaway Jr. to Thompson was exactly what they needed when talking about a third scorer next to Doncic and Irving.
Doncic and Irving are going to give him some of the best looks in the league, and on the looks that aren’t wide open, Thompson is going to be ready. This will command the attention of the defense, and give Doncic and Irving more room to work since Thompson excels at hitting shots when the defense is in his face. Thompson’s defender can’t help off too much, but they also can’t not play help defense on Doncic and Irving’s drives.
They’re going to have to pick their poison.
Thompson over Hardaway Jr. is going to be a bigger upgrade than anyone realizes, and if Thompson can continue to hit contested catch-and-shoot shots at a high clip, the Mavs will be in great shape.
