FA: Klay Thompson Comes to Dallas| 3yrs/50mil

[Smitty]

From what im hearing about Klay's defense last season is that while his POA defense has fallen off significantly, he's actually been quite solid defending bigger, slower wings.

I'm wondering whether the potential for Grimes getting back to what he was his second season in the league with the Knicks (he was so good, Knicks made him untouchable in a potential Donovan Mitchell trade), whether that opens up the possibility of moving Klay to the 4 with Grimes at the 3, and PJ off the bench. PJ is great, but that potential possibility opens up a few things. It brings a good POA defender into the starting unit, allows Klay to guard players he's more comfortable guarding, and it means you now 4 deep threats you can't sag off (maybe PJ works super hard on his shooting and gets back to his shooting efficiency he showed his second year in the league, but this is just going off his current form). Or Naji Marshall shows he can actually handle POA defense better than some think and he shows his shooting last season is real.

But it's something to think about as I think most people have PJ locked for the starter spot at the 4, but if his shooting doesn't get better, and Naji and/or Grimes really show out, the above scenarios taking place over the course of the season could really resolve numerous defensive and offensive gaps that people are currently questioning.

Interesting thought here Dundalis. One I hadn't thought of.. It obviously won't be a Game 1 thing but down the line it could be an option for sure. It's a lot easier to see these types of lineup combinations when you think of Luka as Forward on defense.

OFF                    DEF
PG      Luka          PF
SG      Kyrie         SG
SF     Grimes        PG
PF      Klay           SF
C       Lively          C


One thing I keep coming back to is just how deep and versatile this Mavs team is now. Lot of different lineup combinations for Kidd to try throughout the year before finding a few that stick and can get this team over the hump!