The Hoopers are counting the days for the season kick-off after Klay Thompson departed from the Golden State Warriors.  Everyone has been curious about Klay’s role amidst a packed roster of Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic. It will be worth watching if the shooting guard can stand the strategy aside from the new roster. It’s a risk that the Mavs are taking. On top of that, ex-Warriors star Gilbert Arenas pointed out another lacking department of Klay, adding to the Mavs’ gamble.

On Above The Rim podcast, while discussing Anthony Edwards‘ remark on Jordan, Gilbert Arenas took a jibe at shooting guards, the same position that ‘His Airness’ played. “Who are you all? None of y’all had 40 inches vertical like him. Everybody in his position got a 40 cent.” Michael Jordan had a staggering 48 inches of vertical jump. Also, other legendary players who played his position, like Reggie Miller had 38-40 inches of vertical alongside others like Zach LaVine.

The Bulls guard has 46 inches of vertical record. However, Klay Thompson does not belong to that league. “The only person in his position that can’t, that’s not athletic, is damn Klay Thompson!” Klay just has a 31.5-inch vertical jump that eclipses his athleticism. He is not as athletic as legends. Newcomer Anthony Edwards has a 41-inch vertical leap. Gil pointed out that just 50 days before the season kickoff, the Mavs splurged the $50 million on the 5x All-Star. How is the Mavs front office going to deal with this issue, then?

Mavericks front office devised a way to play with Klay Thompson’s lack of athleticism!

Mark Cuban, about two days ago, answered the frenzy going in the mind of the NBA community. Appearing on The Roommates podcast, Cuban said about Klay Thompson’s previous play style, “At Golden State, he had to always be on the move. They had that motion offense where he was always coming off screens and running. We don’t do that or not nearly as much.” That’s why, as per the co-owner, Jason Kidd might have come up with a different strategy for the recruit.

“Just standing in the corner, standing in the wings and just catch-and-shoot from Luka [Doncic] and Ky [Irving]. Hopefully, his life is gonna get easier, “ Mark revealed his expected plans with the 34-year-old ahead of the next NBA season. So at Mavericks, Klay will hopefully play for longer minutes than the Warriors due to a different strategy than Steve Kerr’s.

However, the upper hand on offense has limped the Mavs on the defensive end. They can score with Klay Thompson but cannot fill the void that he replaced. Derrick Jones Jr, whom Klay replaced, will be missed in the upcoming season on the Mavs roster next season. He used to keep the offense clear as a wing. In his absence, the Celtics went hard on Luka and everyone on offense in the NBA finals. And it might reflect as soon as the regular games start.

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Asia Avinger