3 reasons the Warriors look better off without Klay Thompson

It's never easy saying goodbye to a franchise legend. But after 13 years, that's what the Golden State Warriors were essentially forced to do this past offseason, as they shipped Klay Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks as part of a six-team trade.

Naturally, some were skeptical of the move, given all Thompson accomplished alongside fellow cornerstones Steph Curry and Draymond Green. But Klay felt it was time to move on, and Golden State honored that wish.

And, overall, Steve Kerr's squad is better for it.

But the same can't be said for Thompson in these early weeks of the 2024-25 NBA season. In his first 10 games in a Dallas uniform, the five-time All-Star is averaging just 13.8 points, his lowest total since his rookie season, and is shooting a career-worst 41.8% from the floor and a career-low 35.4% from the three-point line. That certainly hasn't helped the Mavericks as a whole, who've gone just 5-5 thus far.

The Warriors, meanwhile, have hit the ground running, winning eight of their first 10. It's almost fitting that game No. 11 will come against Thompson, as he and the Mavs will visit the Chase Center on Tuesday night for the NBA Cup opener for both teams.

But while there are some fun festivities planned to celebrate Thompson's time in the Bay, this also serves as a chance for Golden State to prove that this team is better without him. And just how are the Dubs better without No. 11 on the floor? Let's have a look.

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The Warriors are a much deeper (and younger) team without Klay Thompson

Even with Thompson out of the mix, the Warriors have the deepest roster they've had in years. Getting his $40-plus million salary off the books certainly helped in that regard.

As part of the six-team trade that sent Klay to Dallas, Golden State acquired Buddy Hield from the Philadelphia 76ers and Kyle Anderson from the Philadelphia 76ers. In a separate agreement with the Oklahoma City Thunder, they acquired more shooting depth with Lindy Waters III and also added former Sixer De'Anthony Melton in free agency.

Hield, of course, got off to a historic start and is the team's second-leading scorer through 10 games, averaging 18.0 points per game, which is right about what Thompson averaged a season ago. And Melton, Anderson, and Waters have all pitched in off the bench, a bench that easily leads the league in scoring.

A big part of that unit recently has been Jonathan Kuminga, who was taken out of the starting lineup after three games but has thrived in his new role. Moses Moody, who led Golden State in scoring during its perfect preseason run, has also improved.

Brandin Podziemski hasn't yet reached his potential, but he's shown flashes, and Kevon Looney continues to be a solid backup option in the frontcourt.

And we haven't even mentioned most of the starters yet. Steph Curry is going to do Steph Curry things, and the same can be said for Draymond Green. Andrew Wiggins is already putting up better numbers than he did a year ago, and Trayce Jackson-Davis has been steady as well.

Not only are the Warriors deeper, but they're a much younger overall team now as well. Naturally, that means a lot of fresh legs. Instead of having to put Thompson out there for 30 minutes per game, Kerr spreads out minutes among the players on this deep roster, giving Golden State much more energy throughout a given game.

Three-pointers are coming from everywhere, not just Steph and Klay

The depth is clearly the biggest benefit the Warriors have right now, which is why we spent so much time on it. But that depth feeds right into this entry.

Ahead of the season, Golden State general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. was asked about the challenges the offense might face without Thompson in the mix. But he never really saw this as a problem. Instead, he was excited about the prospect of the Warriors being able to better distribute three-point shots across the entire team, which is exactly what's happened.

A season ago, the only Warriors to shoot more than four triples per game were Curry (11.8) and Thompson (9.0). Through 10 games this season, six Golden State players have done so, those being Curry (8.9), Hield (8.2), Melton (5.8), Wiggins (4.9), Podziemski (4.4), and Moody (4.1).

So far, it's working, as the Warriors as a whole are taking more shots from beyond the arc and have a better efficiency rate from deep than they did last year.

The Warriors are better defensively

Prior to the knee and Achilles issues that kept Thompson out of action for two-plus seasons, he was a solid enough defender. He even finished 11th in the Defensive Player of the Year voting for the 2017-18 season and was an All-Defensive Second Team selection in 2018-19.

With the aforementioned injuries, it was hard to expect Thompson to be the same player he was before, especially on the defensive end. And simply put, he wasn't, and Golden State suffered for it.

But once again, here's where the current depth comes into play. With a deeper, younger roster, the Warriors are far better defensively than they were with Thompson last year. Through 10 games, they've allowed 109.4 points per game, the seventh-fewest in the league and roughly eight fewer than they gave up in 2023-24, which ranked 18th.

Last season, Golden State's defensive efficiency rating was 1.116, which ranked 16th in the NBA. This year, it's 1.045, good for fourth.

From an overall standpoint, the Warriors simply have far better balance and much more energy without Klay Thompson on both ends of the floor. And it's clearly paying off.