Klay Thompson will cruise through regular season and wreak havoc in playoffs, says Paul Pierce
Klay Thompson is expected to bring his championship-winning experience to the Dallas Mavericks and has the support of Paul Pierce.
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Paul Pierce roots for Klay Thompson to succeed at the Dallas Mavericks
During the preseason, there were concerns in some quarters about Klay Thompson after his struggles with the Dallas Mavericks. He experienced shooting difficulties, which included a 0/9 performance against the L.A. Clippers. However, Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce disagreed, as he argued that Thompson’s true value will shine during the playoffs.
Paul Pierce made this known while he spoke on the “Ticket & The Truth” podcast with Kevin Garnett. Pierce compared Thompson’s role on the Mavericks to his own experience with the Washington Wizards.
I think Klay’s value is really not going to show as much in the regular season as it will in the playoffs. That’s what I’m thinking. As you get older, the regular season, you kind of try to get through it and you save those special performances when it really counts.
Paul Pierce said on The Ticket and The Truth
Paul Pierce says Klay Thompson’s role in Dallas will be comparable to him with the Wizards, per @allthesmokeprod. pic.twitter.com/K4uqjvVr3q
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) October 19, 2024
Klay Thompson started his Mavericks debut fairly as he scored 10 points on 3/9 shooting against the Utah Jazz. Then followed a poor performance against the Clippers where he went scoreless in 21 minutes.
This performance brought back memories of his last game with the Warriors when he went scoreless in the play-in tournament loss to the Sacramento Kings. Fans of the Dallas Mavericks would be expecting the Thompson that combined with deadly effect with Stephen Curry during the Golden State Warriors’ golden era.
Mavericks perfect for Klay Thompson, says former teammate
While Klay Thompson has struggled in the preseason there’s optimism that he will be a valuable asset for the Dallas Mavericks. His three-point shooting is expected to provide the necessary spacing for Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving to thrive.
On that note, his former teammate DeMarcus Cousins took to the Run It Back podcast to talk about his expectations for Thompson. In his opinion, he asserted that Thompson is in an ideal situation and that Dallas has improved since their NBA Finals run.
They added a third piece that complements them perfectly. There’s less pressure on Klay to perform how they were expecting him to perform in Golden State. So it’s less pressure in Dallas… The biggest thing is we’ll see a happy Klay. Klay’s looking to be loved and embraced, and I think Dallas is the perfect fan base and city to achieve that.
DeMarcus Cousins said on Run It Back
Thompson chose Dallas partly due to how the city and fanbase embraced Kyrie Irving, despite the latter’s controversial past. This support influenced Thompson to leave the Golden State Warriors, the only team he had ever played for after he lost his passion for the game last season.
Despite his emotional struggles in his final season, he still averaged nearly 18 points per game with excellent three-point shooting. There’s a belief that if he can maintain this level of performance, the Mavericks will be serious contenders in the Western Conference.
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Ubong Archibong
(1284 Articles Published)