Jason Kidd drops 'honest truth' bomb of why Klay Thompson joined the Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks have had one of the best offseasons out of anyone in the NBA this summer, and the biggest reason for that begins with Dallas acquiring Klay Thompson through a six-team sign-and-trade.

Dallas inked Thompson to a three-year, $50 million deal which is extremely team-friendly, and this move shows that the Mavs took their desire for more shooting seriously after a five-game loss to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.

Thompson is projected to be the new starting small forward for the Mavericks alongside Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington, and Dereck Lively II, and Jason Kidd has a completely different team to work with next season after the team's successful offseason.

Dallas beat out the Los Angeles Lakers to sign Thompson, and while there are plenty of reasons that Thompson chose to sign with the Mavs, the biggest reason may have been hidden in plain sight.

Kidd says Irving played major role in getting Thompson to Dallas

Kidd appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area's podcast called "Dubs Talk," and he dove into how Irving played a huge part in Thompson's recruitment to Dallas.

"It was a lot of people that were involved in (Thompson's recruitment). But one of the biggest players in that was Kai (Kyrie Irving),” Kidd stated. "They all talk about their situations, and they all recruit one another – this was about Kai and Klay being able to talk."

Irving was traded to the Mavs in the middle of the 2022-23 season, and before his trade to Dallas, he was known (from the outside looking in) as a locker room cancer, and some of the national media created a false narrative about him that he isn't a good teammate.

Just like anyone, Irving has made some mistakes during his career, but his time in Dallas has been a near-perfect experience for both parties involved. Irving seems to love playing for the Mavericks, and the organization has welcomed him with open arms and allowed him to be himself in all instances.

There have been no off-court or on-court issues with Irving over the entire year and a half that he's been a Maverick, and it sounds like Irving definitely detailed all of the pros of being a Mav to Thompson while he recruited him to Dallas.

"Kai (Kyrie Irving) being able to, player to player, (detail) his experience of what Dallas has been like for him in two years and being able to tell Klay the honest truth of what he thinks can happen with Klay coming to Dallas," Kidd said.

Just like Irving did at the time of his trade to the Mavs, Thompson is bringing some supposed baggage with him to Dallas. After Dallas acquired Thompson, there were rumblings that his antics were worse than Draymond Green's with the Golden State Warriors last season.

It was clear that Thompson was not happy anymore in Golden State, and he needed a fresh start badly after the Warriors seemingly disrespected him by prioritizing other players on the team rather than him.

Irving likely detailed many details and the "honest truth" of what it's like to be a Maverick to Thompson, and with the help of Kidd, this could end up being the best decision he could have made this summer. Kidd has done a great job of managing the locker room during his time with the Mavs, and his help combined with Irving's could allow Thompson to return to being the player that every NBA fan knows him to be.