Mavericks signing Klay Thompson will turn P.J. Washington into a monster

The Dallas Mavericks signing Klay Thompson changed everything for the team.

They gained one of the greatest shooters of all time to play next to Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving while forming one of the best big threes in the NBA. This isn't to say that Dallas' roster construction or how they operate changes much with the Thompson signing, but it does mean that Thompson is going to make the Mavs much better than they were before.

Dallas needed another shooter badly after their deflating NBA Finals loss to the Boston Celtics, and Thompson is poised to become the third scorer for the Mavs that was nonexistent during the playoff run.

Thompson's gravity will give Washington endless open looks

Thompson is going to help make the game easier for many of his new teammates, with P.J. Washington being someone who is going to benefit the most.

Washington's time with the Mavs began in February when the Charlotte Hornets traded him to the Mavs, and he had an up-and-down regular season with the team. His 3-point jumper looked shaky, especially from the corners, but his defense was a huge strength right away.

Washington can guard nearly any position, and his versatility helped the Mavs tremendously down the stretch. He doesn't back down from anyone, and his physicality and fearless demeanor were huge for Dallas.

While Washington is mostly known for his defense, his offense could improve drastically with Thompson on the roster now. Specifically, his shooting.

Now that Thompson will be sharing the floor with Washington often, it is going to give Washington so many more open looks. The defense is going to be focusing so much on Thompson, Doncic, and Irving that teams could game-plan around forcing Washington to beat them from behind the arc.

That's exactly what the Oklahoma City Thunder did, and it came back to bite them. Washington averaged 17.7 points per game in this series while shooting 46.9 percent from downtown. He was a massive X-factor in that series, and Dallas could have been in a bad spot if he struggled to hit these open shots.

During the regular season for Dallas, Washington shot 31.4 percent from downtown and this number rose to 34.8 percent during the playoffs. Washington's biggest improvement during the playoffs was definitely his 3-point shooting from the corners, and he is going to be a 3-point assassin next season if he can keep up the efficiency.

It has already been reported that Washington has been dedicated to improving his jump shot this offseason, and the Mavs were working on fixing some things on his jumper. He likely won't become a sharpshooter overnight, but the Mavs will benefit from him improving in this area.

Washington won't have to worry about getting open looks as Doncic is an elite shot creator and Thompson has great off-ball gravity. All he'll have to do is move some without the ball, find the open spot on the perimeter, and let it fly.