Gilbert Arenas appears to be particularly bullish on Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic now that he will be teammates with one of the greatest shooters in the history of the NBA in Klay Thompson.
Luka will average a Triple Double pic.twitter.com/bWhLtC0QXg
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) September 14, 2024
“I mean, I don’t want to put this type of pressure on him, (but) I’d be surprised if he don’t have a triple-double because if you was averagin’ that many assists with what you had, and now you have a guy who’s a catch-and-shoot, so some of your assists will come without even any effort this time, you should average a triple-double,” Arenas said.
“He will probably be the No. 1 candidate for MVP. He’s gonna do somethin’ that hasn’t been done in a few years, and that’s average a triple-double.”
Thompson inked a three-year, $50 million deal with the Mavericks this offseason as part of a sign-and-trade after he spent over a decade with the Golden State Warriors organization.
Doncic was one of the top contenders to win the MVP award and also nearly averaged a triple-double sans Thompson last season. He finished third in MVP voting behind only Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and averaged 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game across 70 appearances in the 2023-24 regular season.
It’s likely safe to assume that Doncic will benefit from playing alongside a perimeter shooter of Thompson’s caliber.
Thompson has made a whopping 2,481 3-pointers in his career during the regular season, which ranks as the sixth-most of any player in NBA history. Reggie Miller, Damian Lillard, James Harden, Ray Allen and Stephen Curry — Thompson’s former teammate — are the only five players with more made regular-season 3s to their names.
To boot, Thompson boasts the 20th-best career 3-point percentage in league history at 41.3 percent.
The Mavericks are hoping that Thompson will prove to be the missing piece to the team’s championship puzzle. Dallas got very close to winning its second title in franchise history in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, as the team reached the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011 before falling to the Boston Celtics.
Thompson knows a thing or two about what it takes to win a championship in the NBA. He won four titles during his time with the Warriors in the years 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022. The 34-year-old also has put together numerous clutch performances in the playoffs over the years.
It’s too early to say whether Arenas’ prediction that Doncic will probably be the No. 1 MVP candidate will come true, but Thompson’s presence on the court should make the Slovenian’s life easier from a playmaking standpoint if nothing else.
