Despite losing in the quarterfinal of the Emirates NBA Cup this past Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks have been in the midst of their best stretch so far this season, as the Mavericks have won 11 out of their last 13 games. After all, Dallas will avoid having to play extra games throughout the rest of this week, so they'll incur some much-needed rest amidst injuries and illnesses to some of their role players recently.
The Mavericks are starting to trend closer to the point in the season where President of Basketball Operations Nico Harrison and company will need to decide if the Mavericks are going to keep their current roster past the February 6 trade deadline, or if the Mavericks are going to make a move.
With Dallas being fourth in the Western Conference, they've definitely established themselves as a prospective playoff team with home-court advantage in the first round, but it still seems like Dallas is still a hedge behind some of the elite contenders in the league like the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder.
The reason that Dallas brought in sharpshooter Klay Thompson this past offseason from Golden State was to avoid this scenario, as Dallas fans hoped the influx of offense and spacing Thompson would bring would make their offensive versatility on par with any lineup in the league. However, Thompson has been very up and down from a shooting perspective this season, and he hasn't been able to score off the dribble or off cuts as frequently as many Mavericks fans hoped coming into this season.
Mavs could trade Thompson as they did with Williams last season
With that being said, the Mavericks could elect to trade Thompson ahead of the upcoming trade deadline, as Thompson will be eligible to be traded away from Dallas on December 15. This move would be shocking to Mavericks fans and NBA fans alike, as fans were biting at the apple for Thompson's debut in Dallas when he signed with the team on a three-year, $50 million deal via sign-and-trade this past July, which was just a few months ago.
However, Dallas' front office is concerned about winning first and foremost, and they haven't shied away from trading newly-signed players at the trade deadline, evidenced by when Grant Williams and Seth Curry were away shipped to the Charlotte Hornets for P.J. Washington at last season's trade deadline.
Thompson is currently averaging 13.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game on 39.5/37.4/90.0 shooting splits, which are all career lows through 21 games played barring his free throw percentage and rebounds per game average. While Thompson has proven to still be a solid defender for the Mavericks, his inability to be as dynamic attacking off the catch or as a cutter are the same issues that plagued him in Golden State in recent seasons, and he isn't shooting the ball with as much confidence as fans are accustomed to.
Thompson may be Dallas' best path to upgrading their roster significantly given the roughly $16.7 million figure per year on his current contract, but his value has likely declined compared to even this past summer, and Dallas' best bet to upgrading drastically would likely be including Thompson's contract in aggregate with someone else on their roster.
The Mavericks have been in the rumor mill for Jimmy Butler recently, and making a quick pivot on Thompson's tenure in Dallas could help the Mavericks strike a deal that helps them get back to the Finals this season, though the Mavericks have extremely limited draft capital to make a deal work at this juncture.
The door certainly isn't closed on Thompson working out in Dallas, but the Mavericks can't afford to keep him for too long if he can't become slightly more productive on offense, as they paid too hefty of an opportunity cost to acquire Thompson and he is only getting older at nearly 35 years old. He has been playing well over the last two games since returning to the lineup from a foot injury, and hopefully, these good performances continue moving forward so he can reach his full potential as a Maverick.
