Hidden factor in Klay Thompson signing shows Mavericks will have elite future

Klay Thompson joining the Dallas Mavericks has everything to do with connections.

The Mavericks are slowly becoming a team with lots of followers.

Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic and Klay Thompson are some of the most well-known names in the world.

There's one hidden aspect that adds on to the Mavericks gaining these reputation points, and it's all thanks to one person.

Nico Harrison's relationship with players is huge to building success

We always go back to the phrase, "it's not about what you know, it's who you know."

This is definitely the case with Mavs General Manager Nico Harrison.

Harrison has made relationships with players and had known Jason Kidd before being brought in as the head coach of the Mavericks.

After all, Harrison is the mastermind who constructed this Dallas team. Without him, the Mavericks would not have the respective roster they have.

Harrison played a big part in getting Klay Thompson to Dallas, and that was a big reason that Cuban brought him in. He has great connections, and it has already paid off.

Harrison has provided midseason trades that have made the biggest differences. Irving was in a bad position when he was traded to Dallas. In 2024, Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington are the biggest energy boosters that Dallas desperately needed.

Along with connections, Harrison has a smart basketball mind. Harrison made a bold claim earlier in the offseason that Dallas was just one "Klay Thompson away" from winning the NBA Finals. This could've been an effort to just make fans excited like a lot of GMs do. Plenty of them do coach speak, but Harrison doesn't. He's fully aware (just like Mavs fans are) about what could've been with just a few tweaks away.

Thompson is one of the best shooters this game has ever seen. He and Stephen Curry together shot 41.5 percent during their time in Golden State, respectively.

Mavs fans know all about big threes on NBA teams. One of the original super teams arguably started with the infamous Miami team in 2010, however, Mavs fans know very well how that season ended.

This is a new big three in Dallas. Harrison is to thank for that.

This doesn't mean that there haven't been failures on guys coming in. For instance, Christian Wood was not a good experiment with Dallas. It only lasted one season, and it was on the coaches as well for not giving him more minutes.

The Mavericks made that move after Doncic's run in the 2022 playoffs when we all realized that Doncic needed assistance.

Harrison has provided wins to the team since then. There's no doubt that the 2024-25 roster is much more balanced than the roster from two seasons ago.

With Harrison's ability to make those connections, there's no telling how high this team can go in the next several years.