Texas Notes: Klay, Doncic, Adams, Rockets

Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban recently spoke with Shannon Sharpe on his Club Shay Shay podcast (Twitter link) about a variety of topics, including the decision of Klay Thompson to depart the Warriors in free agency.

“Klay Thompson’s got a lot to prove,” Cuban said. “Klay was ready for a move. All the grief he got last year – particularly the way it ended. So the timing was right.”

Thompson agreed to a three-year, $50MM deal with Dallas as part of a six-team sign-and-trade.

There’s more out of the Lone Star State:

• Five-time All-NBA Mavericks guard Luka Doncic has had a busier-than-normal offseason in 2024. Since guiding Dallas to its first NBA Finals appearance in 13 years, Doncic suited up for Team Slovenia for the 2024 Olympic qualifiers, but was eliminated by Team Greece before making the cut. Doncic subsequently remained in his homeland to prep prior to the Mavericks’ own training camp, as Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal.
• Veteran Rockets center Steven Adams missed all of his inaugural Houston season in 2023/24 while still recovering from a right knee surgery he had undergone the year prior. Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle unpacks how the 31-year-old will be deployed in Ime Udoka‘s system for 2024/25. Alperen Sengun enjoyed a breakout run last year, and seems likely to preserve his starting spot. Adams is on an expiring $12.6MM salary.
• The Rockets finished with a solid 41-41 record, but in a talented Western Conference it wasn’t enough for Houston to even make the play-in tournament. Instead, the Rockets finished with the West’s No. 11 seed. As Feigen writes in another piece, owner Tilman Fertitta was recently ambiguous about what would constitute a successful season for the club. “We have high expectations,” Fertitta said, while also noting that “there’s no deeper team than us.”