Klay Thompson’s former teammate is all in on his move to Mavericks

Now that most NBA teams have essentially completed their offseason transactions, talking heads and basketball analysts alike are running rampant with their record, seeding, and playoff projections for teams.

As has been discussed numerous times here, the consensus from most in the national media is that the Mavericks did indeed improve this summer with the free agency additions of Klay Thompson and others. However, most talking heads are penciling in Dallas as either the second, third, or fourth seed in the Western Conference for this upcoming season, as many will argue the Oklahoma City Thunder are the clear top dog in the conference.

Many are citing the Mavericks' lack of point-of-attack defense in their starting lineup as the primary reason why the Mavericks won't quite make it to the top of the conference, but there's an argument to be made that those same people are drastically overlooking the impact Klay Thompson could have on this Mavericks team offensively.

Festus Ezeli thinks the Mavericks will win the West with Klay Thompson

One individual who isn't overlooking the Mavericks whatsoever though, is Klay Thompson's former teammate Festus Ezeli. Ezeli made an appearance on ESPN's NBA Today show recently that brought up the topic of how large of an impact Thompson could have on the Mavericks this upcoming season, and he didn't hesitate to say that he thinks Dallas will win the West with the addition of Thompson.

Ezeli talked about how Thompson's elite 3-point shooting would compensate for Dallas potentially taking a step back on defense, and he also noted that Thompson will be a great boost for chemistry and morale. Ezeli's reasoning for Dallas being first in the West next season is very solid, and he didn't even mention some of Dallas' other offseason additions.

The Mavericks will have Quentin Grimes and Naji Marshall to pester opposing guards and wings at the point of attack next season, both of whom will likely get decent minutes off the bench for this Mavericks team.

It also seems like many in the national media are continuing to overrate how bad Thompson's defense actually is, as Thompson may not be the All-NBA caliber defender he used to be, but is still a decent one-on-one defender and a solid team defender.

While things may be a little tricky at the beginning of the season while Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd is still trying to figure out which lineups are most optimal to play and for how long, Dallas' defensive personnel and prowess don't look like they've taken a step back from last year on paper.

Dallas' defense dropping off is many people's main criticism of Dallas' move for Thompson, as the Mavericks let go of Derrick Jones Jr. early on in free agency to pursue Thompson and others. However, it just doesn't seem likely that Dallas' defense falls off more than maybe a marginal amount this upcoming season, which bodes credence as to why Ezeli thinks Thompson's floor spacing and shot creation can be transformative for this Mavericks offense.

While Ezeli may be coming from a place of bias given that he was teammates with Thompson for four seasons in Golden State, his takes have good evidence to back them up and he's one of the few people in the national media that truly recognize how talented this Mavericks team could be next year after adding Thompson, as people forget Dallas was in the NBA Finals just a few months ago before even adding him.