The four-time champion who has hit rock bottom! 50 million substitutes in three years! What did he choose wrong?

Averaging 9.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game, shooting 34% from the field and 30.3% from the three-point range;

It is hard to imagine that this is the data produced by the once top 3D Klay Thompson; and under such embarrassing data, even in a team as bad as the Mavericks, he can still only sit on the bench.

For the team, the Mavericks should have been a team with high hopes in the offseason. The original team of Irving + Davis + Klay won the No. 1 pick in the draft. In the face of Irving's injury, they also prepared an alternative Russell. It seemed that they were going to do something big, but reality gave the Mavericks a hard blow.

So far this season, the Mavericks have only scored 5 wins and 12 losses, ranking third from the bottom in the Western Conference. Under the dismal record, the team's general manager was fired, and a large number of the team's main stars were put on the trade shelf. Among them, the most embarrassing one should be Klay Thompson.

At this point, it is difficult not to raise questions:

Curry and Green are both four-time champions of the Warriors. Curry and Green can still occupy the core position of the Warriors, but Clay has become a bargaining chip for the Lone Ranger. Where did he make the wrong move? And if I hadn't left the Warriors, would it have been a different scene?

Below, let’s take a look at Clay’s career path in the past few years and look back at the failed gamble between Clay and the Mavericks.

Going back to the 2021-22 season, Clay's story line is quite bumpy. After suffering a serious injury, he missed nearly 1,000 days of playing. However, after his comeback, he still helped the team win the fourth championship. However, he may not have thought at the time that this would be Clay's final highlight.

In the 2022-23 season, Curry was troubled by injuries, and the Warriors also stumbled in the regular season; without Klay averaging 21.9 points per game, it would be difficult for the Warriors to maintain their playoff hopes. At the time, most people still believed that the three veterans of the Warriors could live forever as Warriors, but unfortunately, the beautiful picture could only stay in the hearts of fans in the end.

In the 2023-24 season, the Warriors' core lineup began to age, and Clay's offensive efficiency also began to decline. Faced with this situation, the Warriors' contract extension conditions were a two-year, 48 million short-term contract.

For Clay, from his perspective, Green has just signed a big contract, and as a veteran of four championships, he is treated differently. It is natural for Clay to have emotions. It's just that for the Warriors at that time, faced with the team's salary explosion and declining record, they really needed to reshuffle their roster with younger players. The reality before them was that it was difficult to pay Clay an overly large contract.

Under the conflict, the relationship between the two parties directly reached a freezing point. Clay chose to gamble on the future and signed a longer contract:

The Mavericks offered 50 million for three years.

Judging from the time, he may have thought that he was jumping out of his comfort zone and looking for opportunities to prove himself again, but in the face of the cruel reality, this was exactly the watershed of his career.

To be honest, when I first came to the Mavericks, most voices from the outside world still approved of this decision. After all, the Mavericks were doing great things at the time. The combination of Doncic and Irving had just reached the Finals. The ball-carrying core system already needed the assistance of three-point shooters. The team had enough defensive tools, and Klay only needed to maintain his shooting value.

But unfortunately, the Mavericks are not the Warriors. They do not have an off-ball system tailor-made for Clay. Off-the-ball movement, hand-to-hand screens, and passing and cutting rhythms are all things that the Mavericks do not have; the Mavericks' advantage lies in the singles system of Doncic and Irving, while everyone else can only stand and wait for the ball.

After coming to Dallas, Klay's changes were very direct. He had less possession of the ball than during the Warriors' period, his off-ball tactics were not as good as the Warriors', and the value of his offensive moves was far less than that of the Warriors. The team system could not protect him, and Clay's role was quickly marginalized. And this isn't the worst.

Compared with the difficulty of system malfunction, the Mavericks' problem lies more in the team's chaos, and it was this series of problems that ultimately pushed Clay into the abyss.

As the top core of the finals, Doncic brought Davis and Christie to the team, and the team's tactical system was also rewritten. As for Klay, Davis's game value is far less than Doncic's. He has lost his most attractive ball-holding point, his value of running without the ball has shrunk significantly, and he himself must do more work that he was not good at in the past.

To put it simply, Clay of the Warriors is responsible for taking the cake and supporting the situation, while the Mavericks let Clay attack on his own, so the difficulty is naturally different.

Especially after the trade, the Mavericks suffered the worst injury wave, with only 7 players able to play at one time. During that low period, Clay was also required to change from the role of shooter to the core of the team, taking into account shooting and connection, and at the same time required both offense and defense. However, his body could no longer support him in doing these things.

As a finals-level team, they fell directly out of the playoffs after a series of outrageous moves. Clay was completely out of shape after this season's defeat. Before that, he had never experienced such an accident. It is basically hopeless to expect Clay, who is in veteran form, to be able to face the difficulties and return to the top.

Coming to this season, it seems to be strengthening, but the team's situation is obviously worse.

The team's focus began to shift to No. 1 pick Flagg, and Davis was the first offensive point next to him. Clay could only serve as a substitute, and his personal data also dropped to the worst in his career. His scoring average fell below single digits for the first time, and his three-point shooting percentage also fell below 30%.

For the current Mavericks, the goal is very simple. Clean up the veterans in the team and shuffle the lineup, and the inefficient Klay is naturally the first target of the cleanup. However, facing the double dilemma of the team and the players, it is really not optimistic how much value Klay can sell..

Looking back on this experience, Clay’s decline was no accident. His biggest advantage lies in running without the ball + stable shooting penalty, and the conditions for these abilities lie in a stable team system guarantee, a core that can attract the defense to pull the defense, and an excellent passing system to accurately feed the ball. Even after a serious injury, a stable defensive system is needed to fill in his loopholes.

Faced with these conditions, basically only the peak warriors can afford it. He was an irreplaceable tactical fulcrum during the Warriors period, but in the Mavericks, he could only become a dispensable supporting role.

Regarding this somewhat tragic story, if the Warriors can be more patient, and if Clay is willing to step back and accept a short-term contract, both parties can let go of their insistence, or the final result will be completely different.

Looking now, Clay is experiencing the darkest moment in Dallas, and the Warriors are also looking for a new direction. Breaking up is not terrible, what is terrible is misestimating the situation, and in the face of the cruel reality, some opportunities can never be returned once they are gone.