Mavericks beat Celtics in NBA Finals with Klay Thompson, per Skip Bayless

After the news surfaced Monday that Klay Thompson will be heading to Dallas, it didn't take long for some people to start firing off some interesting takes on social media.

Of course, Skip Bayless was among those to share his thoughts, claiming the Mavericks would have beaten the Boston Celtics in the 2024 NBA Finals if Thompson had been on Dallas' roster.

If Klay Thompson had been a Maverick in this year's Finals, Dallas would've beaten Boston. His big-game, big-stage catch-and-shoot experience and all-timeness would've made a difference Tim Hardaway Jr. no longer could. If only Jerry Jones could make a move like this.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) July 1, 2024

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Bayless noted that Thompson would have been a significant upgrade over Dallas guard Tim Hardaway Jr., who averaged just 12 minutes over four Finals games and went scoreless in three of them.

In comparison, Thompson is a 39.8-percent 3-point shooter over 33 career games in the NBA Finals, never going scoreless in a playoff game, much less in the Finals. Thompson did struggle in the Warriors' Western Conference play-in game last season against the Kings, though his regular-season totals from 2023-24 also easily eclipsed those of Hardaway.

It is still tough to say whether or not the Splash Brother would have been enough to reverse a 4-1 series win by the Celtics, but he almost certainly would have improved upon the Mavericks' abysmal 31.6-percent shooting from behind the arc in the Finals.

Of course, Bayless also had to fire a shot at Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to end the post. The 49ers will have to hope that the Bay Area-to-Dallas pipeline doesn't become a thing across multiple sports.