As a Mavs fan I always in the past said what if Luka had a straight sniper from the 3 who's a catch and shooter type of player, Klay usually comes to mind, Michael Porter Jr, Kevin
Klay is a movement shooter, like Redick (who would be a better fit than Kidd coach wise but I digress). It's not about just making threes, but
how the player generates them.
Curry isn't like a amazing passer who cuts in the paint and looks at the outside to pass. Luka offensively is very similar to Lebron, take the attention off your teammates by drawing attention from multiple defenders, drive in the paint and pass out to an open three.
So, stand around and watch isos and just be open? Again, that's not a movement offense. Curry is the best superstar who is as much of a threat off ball rather than on the ball. The only arguable off ball threat on the Dallas roster is Kyrie... that's about it. So Klay is still spending a lot more time standing than getting open off movement. Compare his amount of dribbles and miles traveled to other shooters.
So what if he's around "less capable shooters" he doesn't care if he's open. Switching to whatever team passing, pacing, rhythm, chemistry will all be adjustments.
Being around less capable shooters means less space than what you're usually operating in. When the Warriors were good, they had in addition to Curry being the best movement shooter of all-time, 38%+ optimal 3 point shooters in Durant, Barnes, and one year from Wiggins.
On Dallas you pretty much only have Kyrie shooting that high for a career off the catch, and Luka's usually off the dribble so his off ball effiency is questionable. Other than that, everybody's just a play finisher. No movement players, passing players, or hot shooters. Just Luka/Kyrie dancing in a zone.
So that allows for easier defensive gameplanning. Shooters are infinitely easier to key on if the overall offense is based on isolation, not passing, and not moving. You saw it in the Finals I hope. If you expect huge success from just from having a better shooter stand around Luka/Kyrie instead of more motion and passing, that's a literal waste of his talents imo.
Now I could be wrong and Kidd is moving toward movement offense. Lord knows this team needs it, but if they stick with heliocentric isos, we'll see more of the same.
The central question I pose, similar to the
Finals question for Dallas's defense, is if Thompson's skill was more about the type of offense he was surrounded by, or innate greatness. We've seen this question answered whenever players miraculously get better/worse leaving bad/good fits (Oubre, Westbrook, Kyrie from the Celtics).
