NBA executive drops blunt take on Klay Thompson's early fit with Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks are cooking with gas after a 36-point blowout victory over the Washington Wizards on Thursday night, and they are now 15-8 on the season and have won six games in a row.

Now that Luka Doncic has returned from injury, fans have been able to get a better look at what this team will look like once they're fully healthy. Doncic has been dominant in all three games that he has played in since returning from his wrist sprain and he dropped his first triple-double of the season last night, but the role players have stolen the show lately.

Daniel Gafford had a great game against his former team on Thursday night as he finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks, and he made Washington regret trading him with this type of dominant performance. Spencer Dinwiddie and P.J. Washington have also been elite lately, and while most role players have been thriving recently, one has had a slower start to the season than most have expected.

Klay Thompson has had a rollercoaster early season for the Mavs, and despite having some great games mixed in, he is having the most inefficient season of his career. Thompson is shooting 38.1 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from downtown, and some people from around the league don't seem impressed with his fit in Dallas. Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst spoke with various NBA scouts and executives about star players who switched teams this summer, and Thompson's name came up (subscription required).

Thompson ruled as "awkward fit" with Mavs, but that isn't the full story

"Klay has been an awkward fit so far," an anonymous NBA executive from the Eastern Conference said. "Derrick Jones shot the ball better and played better D for them last year."

Derrick Jones Jr.'s name continues to be brought up almost any time when discussing the Mavs' offseason moves, and while losing Jones Jr. to the Clippers was a stab to the heart for most Mavs fans, Naji Marshall has been a great replacement for him. He has a much more advanced skillset than Jones Jr. had, and while they are completely different players with different playstyles, Marshall is filling in just fine.

It's unfair to compare Thompson and Jones Jr., and that isn't even the trade-off we should be looking at when diving into the Mavs' offseason. Thompson is a major upgrade from what Tim Hardaway Jr. brought towards the end of the season, and Thompson is only making about $15.9 million this season. Even in his struggles, he provides the Mavs with elite floor spacing and his off-ball gravity allows Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving to have much more room to operate. Teams still can't leave him open, but at the end of the day, he still does need to be better for the Mavs to reach their full potential.

He isn't getting as many wide-open looks to go down as expected, but his volume also hasn' been great recently. Thompson has only shot 17 threes over the last four games he's played in, and while the Mavs are trying to ease him back into things following his foot injury, this is still low volume for a shooter of his caliber.

It's not even fully fair to say that Jones Jr. shot the three better than Thompson did, as the numbers say otherwise. Jones Jr. shot 34.3 percent from downtown as a Mav on 3.1 attempts per game while Thompson is shooting 36.8 percent from downtown on 7.6 attempts per game. Thompson is putting up a better shooting percentage than Jones Jr. did on over double the attempts, but it is fair to say that the team's defense within the starting lineup isn't the same as it once was.

Jason Kidd has emphasized that they are going to continue rolling with Thompson in the starting lineup for now, and while his defense has been solid at times, it isn't the same lockdown defense that Jones Jr. brought. Jones Jr. was the team's best defender last season, and he could effectively guard the league's best guards.

Thompson doesn't have the same lateral quickness that Jones Jr. has, but he still takes some tough matchups when needed. Kidd tends to give him tough defensive matchups to start games, and he has not been a negative on that end.

While Thompson's overall fit in Dallas hasn't been the same dream fit that many fans thought it would be over the offseason, patience is key in this situation. Time and time again, this has proved to be true when it comes to the Mavs, and it has even been proven to be true this season.

Marshall and Quentin Grimes had slow starts to the season, and Kidd emphasized that everyone needed to remain patient as good things take time.

The patience paid off, and now both players are crucial pieces in the rotation.

The same patience must be displayed towards Thompson, and while he may not be the Klay Thompson of old, he is still going to impact the game whether noticed from the outside or not. He is a smart player, and the Mavs have plenty of different ways that they can get him rolling.

Dallas said that they would try to keep things simple on him over the offseason, and while Doncic and Irving are naturally going to generate open looks for him, running more actions for him early on in games could be the recipe for keeping him engaged. He just needs to see a couple of shots to fall to get hot, and it seems like the Mavs haven't been running as many actions for him as they did early on in the season.

It's not time to give up on Thompson just yet, and just like it took a while for Irving to fit in, the same can be said for Thompson. He is a pro who wants to win his fifth championship badly, and a couple of good games could get his rhythm rolling and shatter any narrative alluding to him not being a good fit in Dallas.