After months of wondering what Dallas would do with Klay Thompson, the Mavericks have made their call: they waived the 36-year-old veteran. A trade might have been the cleaner outcome in the eyes of some fans, but this was the move the team settled on.
It also leaves Dallas staring at the same issue that has hovered over the roster for a while now - shooting, or more accurately, the lack of it.
Thompson was one of only two qualified Mavericks who averaged more than 1.5 made 3-pointers per game. That’s the entire list.
Dallas was one of just two teams in the league with fewer than three players hitting that threshold, and the other was the Detroit Pistons. Now, the Mavericks are down to just one player who cleared it.
The front office did try to address the problem over the offseason. Dallas brought in Santi Aldama, Tarik Biberovic, and Marcus Sasser in an effort to patch up the perimeter game that fell short last season. But moving on from Thompson also means the Mavericks are taking another step back in the area they were already trying to improve.
And each of those additions comes with a catch.
Aldama put up 1.6 made threes per game last season while shooting 35.0 percent from deep, but his career mark sits at 34.6 percent. At 7 feet, he fits the stretch-big label, though he’s not exactly the kind of pure sniper who forces defenses to panic. He also posted the same true shooting percentage as former Maverick Brandon Williams, even though Williams shot only 23.2 percent from three.
Sasser brings a better percentage on paper. He’s a career 38.6 percent shooter from beyond the arc.
The issue is volume. Across three professional seasons, he has taken just 498 threes.
Thompson, by comparison, launched 527 last season alone. The touch is real, but the sample size still leaves room for doubt.
Biberovic is the biggest unknown of the group because he hasn’t played an NBA game yet. The 25-year-old did light it up for Fenerbahce last season, knocking down 45.8 percent of his threes. But numbers from overseas don’t always travel cleanly, and the source points to recent EuroLeague names like Vasilije Micic, Nicolo Melli, and Sasha Vezenkov as examples of players whose 3-point percentages dipped after arriving in the NBA.
So Dallas has tried to fix a problem that was obvious a season ago. The effort is there. The answers, maybe not enough of them.
That’s why Thompson’s exit stings even if it was necessary. Kyrie Irving’s return should help, and Cooper Flagg’s development as a shooter could matter down the line. Still, losing a knockdown catch-and-shoot weapon like Thompson makes the Mavericks’ perimeter picture look thinner than they’d like.
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Klay Thompson Report Adds Another Frustrating Twist To Mavericks Misfire
Klay Thompsons short stay in Dallas is already looking like one of the more disappointing detours in the Mavericks recent roster churn. The veteran guard signed a three-year deal with the club in 2024, but his fit never had much time to breathe after he played only 21 games alongside Luka Doncic before the team remade its core and sent Doncic away in the blockbuster trade for Anthony Davis.
Now Thompson has been bought out and is expected to land with the Miami Heat in free agency, another turn that underlines how far the Mavericks drifted from the plan that brought him in. Davis arrival was supposed to reset the roster, but injuries quickly complicated that idea and left Dallas with another expensive reminder that this pairing never really got the chance to become what it was sold as. [Read more 🡒]
Klay Thompsons Next Role Just Reshaped Miamis Free Agency Plans
Klay Thompsons next stop has already begun to ripple through Miamis summer plans, with the Heat building their pursuit around shooting and spacing as they try to fit alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo. That approach made Thompson the cleaner roster fit than DeMar DeRozan, and it helped shape the market in a way Dallas fans know all too well from the buyout that set this chain reaction in motion.
DeRozan reportedly landed with Denver instead of Miami in part because the Heat were expected to start Thompson at shooting guard, leaving a different path open for their backcourt. Thompson is expected to sign a two-year deal with the Heat after finalizing his buyout agreement with the Mavericks, a move that gives Miami the floor-stretching piece it wanted while also clarifying why its free-agency board moved the way it did. [Read more 🡒]
Mavs Rookie Is Building A Real Case For NBA Minutes
Sergio de Larrea keeps popping up in the kind of places that tend to matter for young guards trying to move up a level. FIBA recently pointed to the Mavericks rookie as a rising name for Spain, noting the size, vision and shooting that have already helped him carve out a pro rsum in Europe, including recognition in the Spanish Liga ACB. For Dallas, that kind of profile is worth monitoring closely, especially for a player whose game already carries the look of someone trying to earn real NBA minutes rather than simply a longer stay on the fringe.
What makes the next stretch so interesting is that de Larrea is about to get another serious test before the season picture comes into focus. He is set for senior international competition with Spain in late August, and those games should offer a cleaner read on how his skill set translates when the pace quickens and the stakes rise. If he holds up well there, it only strengthens the argument that the Mavericks may have something more than a developmental project on their hands. [Read more 🡒]