Klay Thompson's return to the Bay predicted to be a nightmare for Warriors

Every NBA player has games circled on their calendar going into the regular season.

Certain games just mean more. Whether that means a team is playing against their rival or if a player is returning to their home city, there are games that just have more at stake, and these types of games get the competitive juices flowing for all parties involved.

New Dallas Mavericks star shooting guard Klay Thompson will have November 12 circled on his calendar, as it marks his first game back in Golden State since being acquired by the Mavs earlier this offseason.

Thompson spent 13 seasons with the Warriors before signing elsewhere this summer, and that November 12 game is just going to mean more for him. He is going to want to prove that he is still the player that he once was, and he'll also want to show the Warriors that they should've prioritized signing him like they did for the rest of their core.

Former NBA stars predict fireworks from Thompson in return to the Bay

The Mavs and Warriors could become big rivals this season depending on how this November 12 game goes, and one former NBA star predicts that Thompson is going to put on a show back in the Bay.

On Gil's Arena, Gilbert Arenas and Kenyon Martin dove into Thompson's first game back at the Chase Center, and both former stars seem to think that he is going to light it up.

"Foot to (expletive)," they both said.

Martin predicted that Thompson is going to put up 35 shots, and he doubled down on this take by predicting that Jason Kidd is going to ensure that he is going to get plenty of shots.

The group then talked about how Kidd likes to target certain players who can't play good defense (just like any coach), and they briefly talked about how the Warriors can't focus too hard on stopping Thompson because Dallas also has Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving who can both get going quickly.

Arenas also alluded to ensuring that Thompson plays with freedom in this game by not caring too much if his shots are falling and just letting it fly, and that game is definitely going to be filled with plenty of emotions.

Thompson had tons of great moments while playing for the Warriors including winning the NBA Finals four times, and everyone is going to be watching this game as it is also Dallas' first game in the NBA Cup.

If Thompson gets up as many shots as Arenas and Martin predicted (although it's a bit of an exaggeration), Golden State is going to be in trouble. Dallas is already focused on making their offense easy for Thompson by getting him involved in different ways, and him making a statement in his first game back at Chase Center will put him back on the map, but also the Mavs.

Doncic and Thompson are poised to become an elite on-court duo due to Doncic's on-ball gravity and Thompson's shooting off the catch, and Thompson is going to benefit from the spacing that those two provide considering that defenses are often laser-focused on trying to shut them down.

Thompson and Mavericks doubters are slowly emerging even though they had an elite offseason, and Thompson will have the chance to silence all of the doubts on November 12 with a big game.