LAS VEGAS – After the Dallas Mavericks kept shooting blanks from three-point range in last season’s NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics,
it became obvious that they needed an experienced sharpshooter from long distance.
In short, the Mavs desperately needed a guy like Klay Thompson.
As the Mavs good fortune would have it, Thompson became available via free agency in the offseason after his 13-year tenure with the Golden State Warriors ran its course. Thompson offered exactly what the Mavs needed, and the Mavs offered exactly what Thompson needed.
And the two heavyweights united in July when Thompson inked a three-year, $50 million contract with the Mavs with high hopes of dragging the Mavs across the finish line and helping them capture the franchise’s second-ever NBA title.
“That’s why I’m here,” Thompson said following Tuesday’s opening day of training camp on the campus of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. “I was attracted to their ability to win and the chance to win again.
“That’s the goal of this team this season is to obviously win a championship. But with my experience you’ve got to take it week by week. Right now, my goal in the present is just to have an amazing training camp.”
To a man, the Mavs all believe Thompson is the missing piece to the Mavs winning another NBA title or two. They know he has an obvious championship pedigree, having played an integral role in the Warriors winning four NBA titles.
“I think he fits right in,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He understands what it takes to win.
“His work ethic is like no other. He’s going to help the younger guys, but also he’s going to help everyone when he’s on the floor.”
Kidd also anticipates Thompson being one of the undisputed leaders for the Mavs in the locker room.
“I think a lot of times we take for granted guys who’ve been there,” Kidd said. “He’s been there, he’s won, he’s lost, and he understands what it takes to get there.
“So, for us we have another resource to be able to lean on to get to. And also, we all know he can shoot. But just his leadership. Another leader in that locker room.”
Thompson is a career 41.3 percent shooter from beyond the three-point arc. And in the four losses to the Celtics in the Finals, the Mavs were just 33-of-115 from downtown for only 28.7 percent.
So, when Thompson saw the Mavs repeatedly missing wide open three-pointers in the Finals, he knew he could help.
“I think my game compliments this roster very well, especially from a perimeter scoring aspect,” Thompson said. “I think I’ll help space the floor for guys like Luka (Dončić) and Kyrie (Irving) to do their thing.
“I think being here this week and playing with our team and building chemistry with our big guys and our guards, it’s given our offense kind of a whole new dimension. That’s why I was here in the first place because I saw how close they were to winning a championship, and the opportunity to do that again, I don’t take it for granted. I’m going to work my hardest to try and get us back there.”
After spending his entire NBA career with the Warriors, Thompson has been so overjoyed to have a new lease on his basketball life. It’s been so surreal, he said, adding that after his first practice session with the Mavs: “It felt good to get the nerves out and learn the schemes on defense. It was kind of fun, really. It felt great to compete and run up and down and hear from the coaching staff.
“New team, new setting, new environment, so it feels like transferring schools. It’s a feeling you want to embrace because it’s so rare to get those butterflies as a player. It’s awesome.”
A 6-6 guard and forward, Thompson describes this as one of the most important training camps of his illustrious career.
“I think with just how new it is and the new system to grasp, it’s not an overstatement,” he said. “I think that’s true and that’s how I’m approaching it. And I think if I 
do approach it that way, I’m going to come out of this in a great position.”
Adjustments from the way Thompson operated with the Warriors to how he’ll operate with the Mavs are to be expected. But at the end of the day, Thompson knows it’s all just basketball.
“There’s just a few tweaks that are different, but they’re very similar as far as our defensive rotations and our schemes on the ball handlers on top,” Thompson said. “It won’t be a huge adjustment period for me.
“I think from an X and O standpoint I’ll have to adjust to maybe playing off such good creators (in Dončić) and Irving). In Golden State it was a very motion-based offense. Just being able to play with Luka the last few days, it’s a billon pick-and-rolls. It’s maybe the best I’ve ever seen.”
Thompson said Dončić – he was second in the NBA in assists last season with 9.8 per game – may average 11 or 12 assists this season with his assistance.
“It’ll be fun to play with him in those sets because he draws so much attention and he gets so many open looks from the perimeter (for his teammates), so I’ll be there to knock them down,” Thompson said. “I think it will take a couple of weeks just to get used to this new system, but luckily opening night is not until the 22nd (of October).
“So, this preseason might be the most important one I’ve had in so many years. I do know I’m a hooper, so I can adjust accordingly, and I look forward to doing
that.”
Kidd has no doubt the adjustments by Thompson to the Mavs’ way of doing business on the court will be seamless.
“I think with Klay it’s big when you talk about the greats being able to run off screens,” Kidd said. “A lot of times the guy whose setting screens will run open.
“So, his gravity of being able to take two (defenders) with him is going to open for (centers Daniel) Gafford or (Dereck Lively II) or Maxi (Kleber) or whoever is setting the screen for him.”
The Mavs had two-a-day practices Tuesday and will have it again on Wednesday before taking Thursday off. In his down time, Thompson revealed he knows how to relax.
“I brought my bike with me, my golf clubs,” he said. “Trust me. Restaurants.
“I’ll see a couple of art galleries (and) explore the new terrain. I like to keep myself busy.”
During the Mavs’ first practice, Thompson also kept busy noticing which of his new teammates stepped up their game. The answer?
“Naji (Marshall) played incredible,” Thompson said. “The guy was making floaters, pullups. He played really well.
“He scored a couple of times on me. His jumper was fluid and his mid-range was nice, so Naji was really impressive today.”
Marshall apparently was as impressive as the Mavs hope Thompson will be throughout the course of the upcoming season and the playoffs.
“The biggest challenge is not getting down on yourself when you make mistakes,” Thompson said. “You’re going to make mistakes. Just learn from it and try to grasp all the schemes coming your way.
“I love this team, and being around these guys for the last eight-nine days has been amazing, and I think we have all the ingredients for a championship.”
X: @DwainPrice
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