Klay Thompson will come off the bench for the first time this season for the Dallas Mavericks.
Dallas announced its starting lineup for Wednesday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, and the sharpshooter was notably missing. Instead, D’Angelo Russell is starting in his place in the backcourt:
With Kyrie Irving still sidelined as he works his way back from a torn ACL, having Russell on the floor gives the Mavericks another ball-handler.
That is notable since they’ve been playing rookie Cooper Flagg at point guard for extended stretches even though he was largely seen as a forward coming into the NBA. Handling the point guard responsibilities and the overall adjustment to the NBA surely hasn’t been easy for the Duke product, who is shooting 38.8 percent from the field.
As for Thompson, he hasn’t come off the bench since the 2023-24 campaign when he was on the Golden State Warriors. Yet even that season, he started 63 of the 77 games he played.
He started all 72 of his games last season for the Mavericks and was in the starting lineup for the team’s first seven games this season.
But the four-time champion is struggling. He is shooting just 31.8 percent from the field and 26.2 percent from deep this season while averaging 8.1 points a night. All of those numbers would be the worst marks of his career by a significant margin if they continue for the rest of the season.
Perhaps coming off the bench and anchoring the second unit will provide a spark for someone who has been known throughout his career as a dominant three-point shooter who can catch fire at a single moment.
The Mavericks certainly hope so because they are just 2-5 on the campaign with Irving and Anthony Davis sidelined and Flagg still getting adjusted to the NBA level. They need Thompson to play better to remain afloat in the Western Conference and moved him into a different role Wednesday.
