What a fall from grace the career of Klay Thompson has faced. Rostered by many due solely to name value and pushed as high as the top 100 in the preseason, Klay has been nothing short of a disappointment to those who took the gamble on him.

While many thought a change of scenery would help the former All-NBA talent, things have perhaps spiraled even further the wrong way for him. If you are rostering him currently, you have likely entertained the thought of how you want to approach his situation, and we are here today to discuss what is and isn’t working for the veteran on the Mavericks. 

Once A Splash Bro, Always a Splash Bro

The single greatest skill Klay brings to the table is his three-point scoring, which remains supreme even when the rest of his game is failing. At the peak of his powers, Klay could effortlessly drop in a high volume of threes while remaining above 40% efficiency. Even since his return from the brutal injuries that have set him back so far, Klay remains a highly capable shooter, averaging 3.7 a night on 39.5% from deep over the last four years he has played.

Many speculated that a move to Dallas would lead to a bit of a late-career Renaissance for Klay, with the offensive gravity and playmaking of the guard duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving serving as an overwhelming punch to opposition defenses and letting Klay work in the middle of that. Unfortunately, while things have taken a turn for the worse, Klay is still top 25 in the league for fantasy impact in the three-point category.

His 2.9 threes made per night still indicates that his ability is there, as does the 37.4% shooting efficiency. This vaults him up to a Z-Score of 1.02 on the season so far, a number that is wholly capable of sticking. The most obvious boon that Klay has going for him this year is the playmaking of his teammates around him.

Luka will always remain the focal point of any defensive scheme, and the value of role players around him will always be sky-high due to the sheer quality of playmaking added by the superstar. The Luka pass to Klay three-point shot combination has been one of the best in the entire league to start the season, with that duo ranking top five in the league of assisted three-point pairings as of last week.

Any fantasy manager that owns Klay is almost assuredly not feeling any ill will towards him when it comes to three-point production, and that partnership with Luka looks like it is his saving grace when it comes to giving him playing time thus far. 

A Revolving Door

The positives sort of just die for Klay once you begin to look past the stellar shooting. Once celebrated by many as the perfect 3/D player of the modern generation, his extensive injury history has sapped him of his ability to be a productive player on the defensive end. He was never truly an elite stocks player for fantasy to begin with and his decline on the court has basically turned any value he brings to those categories into a massive negative. 

Most notably, Klay has the worst defensive rating out of the entire Mavericks rotation so far this season. Falling below one-way players such as Spencer Dinwiddie with a putrid 115.3 defensive rating, the argument that Klay is even an average defender at this stage in his career has basically flown out of the window. He is also averaging a career-low in stocks so far, netting a dismal .6 steals per game and .3 blocks per game.

Halving your ability in two important categories is never going to lead to a successful fantasy season (especially if those were previously average), and Klay is no exception so far. His Z-Scores of -1.07 and -0.71 in both steals and blocks, respectively, mark a huge decline for his fantasy output, with his steals serving as his second-worst category by a decent margin. 

The most disappointing part for Klay so far in this regard has been when you compare him to his understudy, Quentin Grimes. Grimes has long been heralded as a top defender by his teammates in both New York and Detroit. He currently has a defensive rating of 112.2 despite being on the floor with the bench unit for much of his time. The disparity became even more apparent when Klay missed a portion of time earlier this season, with Grimes being able to step up and average 24 points and two steals during the absence of the starter.

While Grimes has cooled off since then, stepping back into his reserve role, the depth that the Mavericks have at the forward slot when further factoring in the rise of Naji Marshall will provide them a host of mix-and-match options that decimate the ceiling of Klay long term. 

Verdict

Based on the way the article has been written so far, the verdict on Klay is likely fairly expected. Unfortunately for the veteran, the only constant he has at this stage in his career is his three-point shot. Dallas has been extremely liberal with limiting his minutes when needed, with the 28 minutes per contest he has been receiving over the season so far representing the lowest since his rookie year.

Sitting at an altogether too high roster percentage of 72% through the season so far, unless you are in dire need of his three-point output, most managers should feel extremely comfortable making the swap should there be any exciting prospects on the wire (think Yves Missi, Goga Bitadze, even a Payton Pritchard if he is available for some reason). Best suited as a three-point specialist or even a streamer, Klay can no longer be considered a must-roster player in year 14, clocking in as the 174th-ranked player on the season to date. 

Disclaimer: This article was written before his electric return game in Golden State. I personally do not have much faith in Klay to capture lightning in a bottle and turn his season around, and my opinions of him have changed little since then. I understand if you are hesitant to drop after such a good game, but I still hold firm on not missing out on any possible must rosters in order to give Klay another chance. 

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