Klay Thompson is making the Warriors regret their painful Podziemski gamble

One of the strangest adjustments that NBA fans have been forced to get used to this season has been seeing Klay Thompson in a Dallas Mavericks jersey after playing for the Golden State Warriors since 2011, and it even took Thompson some time to get used to playing for his new team.

Thompson's first preseason game as a Maverick caused him to have serious nerves, but the nerves quickly went away as he walked away with a solid debut, and he has been playing excellently as of late.

Thompson has scored above 19 points in each of the last four games, and he had his best game of the season on Sunday night when he dropped 29 points against the Warriors at the Chase Center. Although he is thankful for his time in the Bay, he is focused on this new chapter of his career in Dallas and trying to win his fifth ring.

Warriors betting on Podziemski over Thompson has aged horribly

Thompson is appreciative of his time in Golden State, but there were also some things from the end of his tenure there that he likely wasn't the most pleased with. He felt disrespected when it came to his contract negotiations and role, and part of what happened with his role was him moving to the bench during some of the second half of the season in favor of rookie guard Brandin Podziemski.

Podziemski was in the middle of a great rookie year, but it had to be a tough pill to swallow for Thompson to be moved to the bench for the first time since his rookie year. He had been Stephen Curry's sidekick at the shooting guard position for years, but that wasn't the case towards the end of his time there because of Podziemski.

Part of the reason that Thompson joined the Mavericks was a guaranteed starting spot, and according to a report from Jake Fischer over the offseason, coming off the bench would have continued for him if he had stayed in Golden State.

"If Thompson had returned to Golden State, the Warriors planned to bring Thompson off the bench behind sophomore guard Brandin Podziemski, sources said, after Golden State started its prized rookie for a good stretch during the second half of last season," Fischer wrote.

Coming off the bench in favor of an unproven rookie was likely not something that Thompson would have wanted to do, and their bold bet on their young guard has not paid off thus far.

Podziemski is averaging just 7.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 37.6 percent from the field and 25 percent from downtown this season, and all of these numbers are a significant regression from the numbers from his rookie year. He is going through a rough sophomore slump while his former teammate Thompson is having a great start to the season as a Maverick.

He is overcoming the rough start that he dealt with in November, and now he has transformed into one of the Mavs' most consistent scorers. He is averaging the third-most points per game on the team (14.0) behind only Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving and has been efficient from downtown, especially lately.

While Thompson's season in Dallas has had its ups and downs, it's overwhelmingly clear that he is making a bigger impact for the Mavs than Podziemski is making for the Warriors. Thompson's electric 3-point shooting and major off-ball gravity have helped work wonders for Dallas, and he is extremely valuable even when he isn't making it rain from downtown.

His defense has also been a pleasant surprise, and Warriors fans may be wishing that the all-time great sharpshooter was still playing at the Chase Center. Putting all of their eggs in one basket with Podziemski was a big risk by the Warriors to begin with, and Thompson's performance lately may be forcing Golden State to think twice about how they handled Thompson's situation.