Klay Thompson is making the Warriors regret their painful Buddy Hield gamble

The NBA world was split over the summer when the Dallas Mavericks acquired Klay Thompson as part of a six-team sign-and-trade.

Fans and media alike didn't know if Thompson could continue playing at a high level in Dallas, as his last season with the Golden State Warriors didn't go as planned. He was disgruntled with his role as he was going to be coming off the bench once again this season (if he returned) in favor of Brandin Podziemski and how things went over when it came to discussions about his future, and both sides moved on as the Warriors helped get Thompson to his desired destination, which was Dallas.

While Golden State prioritizing Podziemski over Thompson has blown up in their faces, another gamble that they made over the offseason is looking like a major win for the Mavericks and a loss for the Warriors as well.

The Warriors received Buddy Hield as part of the six-team sign-and-trade that sent Thompson to Dallas, and he was quickly believed to be an even replacement or an upgrade over Thompson from Warriors fans. Hield had shot 38.6 percent from downtown over 84 games last season with the Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers, and Warriors fans were excited about how he could be the one to replace Thompson's production off the bench. Hield never said that there was pressure to replace Thompson's production or role once arriving in the Bay, but fans quickly grouped Thompson and Hield together considering that they were part of the same trade and share similar playstyles.

Klay Thompson is outplaying Buddy Hield by a large margin

Despite Hield having a hot start to the season and scoring 20+ points in six of his first seven games as a Warrior, he has come back down to earth and is playing his worst basketball of the season as of late. Over his last five games, Hield is averaging just 3.0 points per game while shooting 11.5 percent from downtown on 5.2 attempts per game, and the Warriors giving up on Thompson for Hield is not aging well.

The Mavs are looking like geniuses in this situation since Thompson is playing so well as of late, and his fit in Dallas is starting to finally look like what fans envisioned when he signed with the team over the offseason. Thompson has averaged 17.0 points per game while shooting 41.2 percent from downtown over the last 10 games, and even with Luka Doncic out due to a calf strain, he is finding a way to make a major impact.

Thompson has played his best basketball of the season in December and January while Hield's production has plummeted, and both the eye test and the numbers will tell you that exact same thing. Hield has scored in single-digits in 10 games since the start of December while Thompson has scored in double-digits in every game except for one in that same time period.

It also must be noted that the Mavericks showed interest in trading for Hield as recently as the offseason before last, and Dallas deciding to address their shooting woes from the NBA Finals with Thompson's expertise rather than Hield's is aging beautifully.

Hield hasn't been the same Thompson replacement that many Warriors fans optimistically expected, and the Mavs' trust in Thompson is truly helping him take his game to the next level. Thompson is historically great in January as well, so Mavs fans may be in for a Thompson explosion over the next few weeks.