Since reaching the Finals last season and then acquiring Klay Thompson, the Dallas Mavericks have become one of the most exciting teams in the league. The dynamic duo of Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic are fun to watch, of course, but there's nothing in the league like player drama. After all, Thompson was once a valuable piece to four Warriors championship teams, but disagreements about his contract and consecutive subpar seasons led to a painful divorce. It got to a point where Thompson even asked Stephen Curry not to use his leverage to make the Warriors keep him. Now, not a few players are looking forward to the Mavericks facing the Warriors next season.

Former No. 1 pick Kenyon Martin comments on this first matchup in a conversation with Gilbert Arenas and Rashad McCants on a recent episode of Arenas' podcast Gil's Arena.

“Foot to a**,” Martin said. “Klay's gonna get 35 shots. Listen, they gonna make sure he gets all the shots.” Whether head coach Jason Kidd would like him to take 35 shots, Martin added, “J-Kidd got a**hole in him, so yeah, he's gonna make sure that boy gets all the shots.”

Kenyon Martin and co. sounds off on Mavericks vs. Warriors

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Arenas and McCants also gave their own opinions on the matchup.

“All he has to do is just make–aye listen, you're gonna get 35 shots,” Arenas said. “Just take 35 shots. Don't worry about missing them.”

Meanwhile, McCants added, “If they focus their game plan on Klay and they still got Luka and Kyrie, I'll tell you like, what are y'all doing? You gotta leave somebody open.” On Kidd's potential decision to let Klay Thompson chuck 35 shots, McCants continued, “That's what I love about J-Kidd, though. He targets ni**as. He go right at them.”

“That's old school basketball!” Arenas replied. “That's old-school NBA. If you can't play defense then we're gonna go at you the whole game.”

After losing to the Boston Celtics in the Finals, the Mavericks were aggressive in upgrading their roster, leading to the sign-and-trade for Klay Thompson. If they intend for him to play the third superstar part of a Big Three, then it's an interesting development, for in recent years Big Threes of star players have stopped working.

The last one that won a title was the Warriors with Kevin Durant, which was why he kept trying a Big Three again at Brooklyn and Phoenix. Both teams never made the Finals. Meanwhile, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers tried it with Russell Westbrook, but it was a poor fit, and they ended up missing the playoffs.

Still, Thompson remains an elite shooter, and he will get open several times because of Kyrie and Doncic will collapse the defense. If they make him a pure catch-and-shoot player, then the Mavericks might be one of the Western Conference's most dangerous teams.