Klay Thompson saw the writing on the wall ahead of his move away from the Golden State Warriors last offseason, having briefly been removed from the starting lineup for rookie guard Brandin Podziemski during his final months in the Bay Area.
Thompson's long-time spot as Stephen Curry's back court partner was under threat, undoubtedly playing a role in Golden State's unwillingness to pay him big money and his subsequent departure to the Dallas Mavericks.
But after starting in all 72 of his games with the Mavericks last season, the 5x All-Star could be on the brink of a similar nightmare as his starting role could again come under pressure.
Klay Thompson could easily find himself a reserve next season
The Mavericks have a forward-heavy roster that now includes prized No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, potentially allowing head coach Jason Kidd to go with a jumbo-sized roster that excludes the Warrior legend.
On a recent episode of the DLLS Mavs podcast, NBA insider Marc Stein outlined his belief that Flagg will start at some point alongside P.J Washington at the three, presumably with Anthony Davis and one of Dereck Lively II or Daniel Gafford filling out the remaining front court spots.
“I do think that at some point that the starting lineup will be tested at some point with Cooper (Flagg) at the two and P.J. (Washington) at the 3. I feel pretty strongly about that,” Stein said.
The chances of seeing this lineup just took an extra step on Wednesday when the Mavericks extended Washington on a four-year, $90 million contract, removing any possibility of him being traded before or during the season.
With D'Angelo Russell running the point until such time as Kyrie Irving returns from his ACL injury, Thompson would be left coming off the bench in a move that the 4x NBA champion is scarcely accustomed to.
Prior to Thompson's move to the bench for 14 games in his last year as a Warrior, he hadn't been a reserve since way back in his rookie season of 2011-12. We saw his minutes decline to just over 27 minutes last season (lowest since rookie year), but it's going to be a bigger storyline if he's asked to come off the bench on a permanent basis.
The 35-year-old's best opportunity would be to remain at the two-guard and for Flagg to simply replace Washington in the starting lineup, yet those chances just took a hit given Dallas just re-committed to the 27-year-old on big money.
It will certainly be an interesting element to follow entering next season, with Warrior fans still eager to see how the remaining years of Thompson's career play out following his gut-wrenching departure.