DALLAS — Stripping away all the intricacies of an NBA Finals, from the X’s and O’s to the matchups of stars to the chess game between coaches and even the sideshow of Kyrie Irving playing against his former team, Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd suggested Monday that his team lost to the Boston Celtics because of poor shooting.
“And to add Klay (Thompson), Klay can shoot,” Kidd said, connecting what happened to the Mavericks in June to what they all believe is possible now after making one of the league’s juiciest offseason additions.
After losing 4-1 to the Celtics in a championship series in which the Mavericks shot just 46 percent from the field and a shaky 32 percent from 3-point range (it was much worse than that early in the series when the Mavericks were busy falling behind, 3-0), Dallas added one of the greatest shooters of all time in Thompson, prying him out of Golden State where he earned his legacy and won four titles as a pillar of the Golden State Warriors’ dynasty.
As the Mavs appeared, one by one, in front of assembled media Monday in Dallas, they had no trouble declaring what they thought adding Thompson could do to change their fortunes in another finals.
“I feel like our dreams can be possible because he’s here now,” Irving said.
Thompson, 34, joined the Mavs on a three-year, $50 million contract as part of a six-team sign-and-trade deal after 13 seasons, five All-Star appearances and six finals trips with the Warriors. He is a career 41-percent shooter from 3-point range, owns the fourth-most 3s in NBA history and as recently as 2023 led the league in 3s in a single season.
But Thompson’s last year with the Warriors was nothing like what he was used to in the Bay Area, when he fell out of coach Steve Kerr’s starting lineup and was on the bench during crunch time at the end of several games. Thompson’s 38.7 shooting percentage from 3-point range was the second lowest of his career, and his 17.9-point scoring average was his lowest since 2012-13.
Those were the circumstances behind Thompson looking for the fresh start often cited last summer when he chose to leave Golden State for the Mavericks. On Monday, his new teammates and coach made clear they viewed him as the same ol’ Klay, capable of doing for them what he did for so many years playing alongside Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and for a time Kevin Durant.
“Pfft, unbelievable,” said a trim-looking Luka Dončić, fresh off a season in which he was the Western Conference finals MVP. “He’s a four-time champion, an amazing player. … I think the spacing is going to be perfect for us.”
Kidd, offering his assessment of the finals loss to Boston, said “when you look at the things that we could have done differently on offense we could have shot the ball better.” And then as he transitioned to the Thompson acquisition, he said: “Every time he lets it go, it looks like it’s going in, and if he does miss one, it just adds to the percentage of will he make the next one? And we haven’t had that here for a while.”
Mentioning Thompson next to Jason Terry, a former teammate of Kidd’s when he played for the Mavericks and won a championship in Dallas in 2011, Kidd said, “This is rare air when we talk about Klay.”
“He is going to go down as one of the best shooters of all time, and to have him on our side, it just makes the game offensively easier,” Kidd said. “When you look at a team that can make the game easy, Boston, ourselves, those are the ones that can win championships.”
This story will be updated.
(Photos: Glenn James / NBAE via Getty Images)
