Klay Thompson must improve in 1 key area for Mavericks to reach full potential

After the 2024 NBA Finals, it was clear that the Dallas Mavericks needed an upgrade in one key area.

3-point shooting.

Dallas' 3-point shooting was awful in the Finals, and one of their main offseason priorities was to add more shooting. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving were creating good looks, but no one around them could knock down these open threes when it mattered most.

Klay Thompson must improve on wide-open catch-and-shoot shots

Dallas went out and got the best shooter on the market in Klay Thompson to help address this, but even Thompson needs to improve in one key area as a shooter for the Mavs to reach their full potential and be elite contenders once again.

When observing this chart by NBA University it includes the top 50 players in the NBA who attempted the most unguarded catch-and-shoot shots, Thompson isn't as high as one may have expected.

While Thompson shot more unguarded catch-and-shoot shots than anyone in the league outside of Nikola Vucevic and Donte DiVincenzo, he wasn't able to cash them in at a high rate compared to his peers. Thompson was well below the group average, and his efficiency on these shots is comparable to that of Derrick Jones Jr. and Tim Hardaway Jr.

Both Jones Jr. and Hardaway Jr. are on this chart to the left of Thompson, and while their volume was much lower, their efficiency was similar. Neither Jones Jr. nor Hardaway Jr. made big impacts as shooters consistently during the regular season last year, and Thompson must be better at wide-open shots off the catch.

These are the type of shots that Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are going to create, and if he can get better in this area, his stats will rise significantly.

The Mavs aren't going to complicate things for Thompson. They are going to find different "creative" ways for him to be involved in the offense, but they also aren't going to try to be too put too much pressure on him. Thompson is going to be mostly shooting open catch-and-shoot threes considering the way that Doncic and Irving play, and a fresh start with this duo should allow him to improve in this area.

Doncic's passing and elite vision should allow Thompson to get these shots in rhythm, and Irving is going to command tons of attention as the second option. Dallas was the perfect place for Thompson to return to being the player that we all know him as, and a change of scenery should help with his confidence and get him back to shooting a higher clip on these wide-open catch-and-shoot shots.

His position on this chart may concern fans at first glance, but he should get back to sinking these wide-open shots off the catch in no time.