Name: Why the Dallas Mavericks Will Dominate Even More in 2025 After Winning the West
Uploaded: 2024-07-08T02:15:37.000Z
Duration: 8 min 35 s
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The Dallas Mavericks have significantly improved to enhance their championship prospects by acquiring one of the greatest shooters of all time.

GM Nico Harrison also added depth through well-conceived trades and signings, which is all in an attempt to build around the historically formidable offensive one-two punch of Luka

The Klay Thompson acquisition augments Dallas' offensive firepower, while the additions of

Quentin Grimes via the trade market and Najee Marshall via free agency prop up Dallas' defense.

Keep it locked to see why these moves position the Mavs as a Herculean 2025 contender in a Western conference which they just won.

First let's get to disentangling Klay Thompson's 0-for-10 shooting performance against the

Sacramento Kings back in the play-in tournament.

This showing undoubtedly hurt Klay's reputation, raising questions from fans about Thompson's dependability in critical junctures.

Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy opted not to re-sign Klay and instead initiate the NBA's first ever six-team sign-and-trade deal where Dallas sent Josh Green and two second-round picks to the Hornets, while Buddy Heald and Kyle Anderson ended up in Golden State, and Dallas received both a second-round pick and Thompson.

Klay's new deal with the Mavs is worth $50 million over three years, and Klay would classily profess his admiration for the Warriors' seven-time championship-winning organization in an Instagram post with the caption reading,

Oh Bay Area, there are not enough words and images to convey how I really feel about y'all.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for the best times of my life.

It was such an honor to put that Dubs jersey on from day one.

I really just wanted to be the best I could be and help bring as many championships as possible to the region.

The best part was not the rings though, it was the friendships I made that will last a lifetime.

My family and I would like to thank all the amazing people who work tirelessly to make the Warriors organization world-class.

Don't be sad it's over, be happy it happened.

As classy as that statement from Thompson was, last year, reports surfaced that he grew frustrated with the Warriors' front office after they didn't re-sign him to a four-year extension in 2023 summer.

Reports also came out that Klay was quote-unquote miserable after having his starting spot taken away by rookie Brandon Pajemski.

Having said that, with the C-Captain setting sail for Dallas, to truly assess the value

Thompson brings to the Mavericks, it's essential to evaluate his career as a whole.

Thompson's overall career achievements highlight just how special a weapon the Mavericks are adding.

And as we'll get to, he still has a ton left in the tank.

A five-time NBA All-Star, four-time NBA Champion, two-time All-NBA player, and one-time All-Defensive

Team member for the Golden State Warriors, Thompson's lethal shooting from beyond the arc is capable of transforming the dynamics and feel of any game.

The biggest Thompson fans will never forget about how he was nicknamed Game 6 Klay for clutch performances in this situation almost annually, with Golden State's season on the line.

Additionally, Thompson holds the NBA record for most points scored in a single quarter with a ridiculous 37 against Sacramento, and the most three-pointers made in a single game being 14 against Chicago.

Thompson had knee surgery to repair his torn left ACL in July of 2019.

While in rehab, Thompson ruptured his right Achilles and had surgery in November of 2020.

His overall efficiency hasn't been where it was pre-major injuries, but it's been nonetheless extraordinary how Thompson's recovered to average 18-plus points per game in each of his three seasons since returning on essentially the same three-point efficiency than his pre-injured self.

In the 2024 playoffs, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving combined to average 52 points, 13.2 assists, and 13.2 rebounds per game between the two of them.

Despite the pairing's all-time greatness, the Dallas Mavericks fell short in a five-game series against the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, which had a lot to do with a lack of consistent floor spacing and general bucket-getting around them.

In the postseason, according to NBA University, Luka Doncic was the league's second most efficient pick-and-roll ball handler, yet he attempted the most shots out of any creator in the top 10 in effective field goal percentage in this category by a mile.

Luka's shot selection may have been questionable in the postseason given he shot just 32% from three-point range on almost 10 three-point attempts per game.

However, you could definitely argue that he was forced to chuck up this many attempts with no one outside of he, Kyrie, or P.J. Washington being able to haul up a high volume of deep-range shots on a nightly basis.

Even including his 0-for-10 shooting performance in the elimination game against Sacramento,

Klay Thompson shot 40.7% from distance on 9.4 three-point attempts per night over his last 25 games with the Golden State Warriors, .2 less three-point attempts on average than

Luka took in the Mavs' run to the finals, and around 10% more efficient than Doncic's playoff three-point percentage.

The pressure relieving from Klay is going to be incredible to watch in terms of how preeminent he's going to make Dallas' offense.

Luka and Kyrie collapsing the D and being able to kick it out to Klay will be a spectacle.

Lost in the shuffle in what's been a phenomenal offseason for the Mavericks front office up to this point is how they've improved defensively.

They added two 3-and-D wings who are going to shore up their bench being Najee Marshall and Quentin Grimes.

Najee was signed to a three-year $27 million deal, and the most disregarded aspect of Marshall's game is the man's passing chops.

From cross-court overheads through traffic to baiting defenders in midair and dropping dimes to the pocket, there's legitimate multi-functionality in Najee's bag.

The Mavericks rank just 10th out of 16 teams in terms of pace of play in 2024's playoffs, so Marshall's impulsively on-point facilitating to quickly make the right read and thread the needle should help the Mavericks up their tempo.

Marshall's more than simply a spot-up shooter, as when he finds the angle to make off-the-dribble attacks on LeBron like this one, you see Najee has the slightest bit of finesse and shot-creating wherewithal to offer the Mavericks as well.

He's versatile on both ends of the floor, which includes pesky perimeter defense with the ability to guard the fastest and most elusive of point guards, but Marshall's most valuable piece of added value to Dallas will be his ability to catch and shoot.

Similarly to Thompson and the next player we're going to talk about in Quentin Grimes,

Najee's going to be a great fit spotting up next to Luka and Kyrie.

Marshall shot an efficient 41% on corner three-point shots last season and posted 1.22 spot-up points per game.

For the former New York Knick and Detroit Piston Quentin Grimes, the Mavericks are expecting him to be an upgrade on the wing off the bench over Tim Hardaway Jr., who he was traded for.

The Mavs also received three future second-round picks for THJ, and when speaking on what Quentin brings to the table for Dallas, GM Nico Harrison stated quote, "...Quentin provides us with another young, versatile ball handler who can make shots.

We're a young team with a lot of energy and we're excited to incorporate his athleticism and ability to play on both ends of the ball.

His toughness in defending multiple positions is exactly the complement we're hoping to see here in Dallas."

Quentin's ability to make quick-twitch decisions on the catch, combined with his athleticism and fundamentally sound shooting structure, gives him both a ton of untapped potential at age 24, and like Marshall, the chance to fluidly adapt to the Mavs' system around two high-volume creators.

Klay Thompson is going to make this Dallas Mavericks team a different animal, which is pretty scary considering they're coming off rolling through what was an extremely difficult journey through the West.

As the C-Captain's biggest impact, he's going to be keeping Luka and Kyrie fresh by taking pressure off them throughout the 82-plus game grind.

 When also considering Dallas has got a couple new wings hungry to contribute and make a name for themselves who've proven to have solid upside, this gives the Mavericks one of, if not the scariest 15-man unit in their franchise's history, so look for Dallas to have a historically great season in 2025.