[Yaya Dubin] The Klay Thompson experiment in Dallas isn’t just about Luka feeding him catch-and-shoot 3s. It’s also about finding ways to leverage Klay to make things easier for everyone. And the path to doing that runs through the use of screens.
by Salvalicious252
7 Comments
Great video I found on twitter. In the last 3 years, nobody set more guard to guard screens than Luka. Which were incredibly effective with THJ, DJJ and Josh at 1.17, 1.22 and 1.23 points per possesion.
Klay set the most screens of his career last year. The spacing and dissarray that Klay will provide with Luka on those guard to guard screens could have incredible potential. Moreover an underrated part with Klay highlighted himself was his pick and roll play off screens with Trayce Jackson. With Lively and Gafford we could have an even better version of that.
Yeah Kidd doesn’t seem too keen on doing this. He’s dabbled with setting screens for Tim briefly and even Luka at times. It will be interesting if they really commit to this tactic as it takes more wear and tear off Luka and Kyrie.
I think it’s mutually beneficial for the whole team. Obv there’s more open looks for everyone, but having him also shares the offensive load more evenly between Luka, Kyrie, and Klay, which would be good for their health. Klay is also still a solid defender, and having more energy to give on the defensive side will be huge
Luka is just going to love playing with Klay.
Great insight on using screens to maximize Klay’s impact. It really amplifies everyone else’s playmaking ability. If you’re into researching and analyzing complex plays like this, Afforai is a fantastic tool to streamline your literature reviews and citations.
Honestly, klay being worse on defense might be beneficial because teams won’t isolate and attack Luka every damn time on defense.
Your team can easily generate an open look at will. Having your 4th or 5th option finishing it was the problem.
It’ll be interesting to see if NBA teams will do what the Celtics did and isolate Luka on most defensive possessions.
I’m looking forward to seeing lively create an inside game and not always look to make an outlet pass.He had some Ben Simmons moments but I get it. Celtics defense was somewhat demoralizing.
Klay gives me Ray Allen to the Celtics vibes 🏆