Kyrie Irving delivered a loud endorsement of new Dallas Mavericks wing Klay Thompson at the team’s media day Monday.
“Our dreams are possible because he’s here now,” Irving said of the franchise adding the longtime Golden State Warriors star, according to The Smoking Cuban’s Noah Weber.
Thompson, 34, split with the Warriors after 13 seasons, two of which he was forced to sit out consecutively due to separate ACL and Achilles tears. The five-time All-Star was a central piece of the Warriors’ run of four NBA titles in eight seasons, but his play, including the sharpshooting he’d become renowned for alongside Stephen Curry, regressed following his return from injury. His final appearance for the franchise was arguably the most striking example: He went 0-of-10 from the field with six missed threes and finished scoreless in over 31 minutes during Golden State’s play-in tournament loss to the Sacramento Kings.
As a free agent this summer, Thompson landed in Dallas on a reported three-year, $50-million contract as part of a six-team sign-and-trade agreement. He joins a Mavericks rotation that has mostly remained intact from their Finals run earlier this year – most notably their star duo of Irving and Luka Doncic, who envisions Thompson alleviating a lot of pressure on the two offensively.
“You basically can’t help off him,” Doncic said Monday, courtesy of Weber.
“When me and Kai have the ball, you basically can’t help from Klay because if you leave him wide-open, he’s going to make it. I think the spacing is going to be crucial for us.”
Thompson, meanwhile, expects that playing alongside Doncic will help his own opportunities come more easily.
“I know I’ll obviously have to adjust to Luka,” Thompson told reporters Monday, courtesy of Landon Thomas of Mavs Fans For Life. “Luka’s the system. He’s an MVP front-runner and that’s a huge reason why I came here: to help alleviate some of the pressure he deals with on a nightly basis and the defenses he sees.
“You saw that in the Finals. (The Boston Celtics) had so many big wings to throw at him. So, hopefully we can get a good chemistry going and we’ll try different lineup combinations, but at the end of the day it’s a great problem to have.”
The Mavericks open a four-game preseason schedule Oct. 7 against the Memphis Grizzlies before tipping off the regular season Oct. 24 against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. Their first NBA Cup matchup will also mark Thompson’s first game back in the Bay Area as the Warriors host the Mavs on Nov. 12.
