Thompson had 22 points and seven boards, dropping six of his 10 attempts deep in his Maverick debut. While he left one of the best playmakers in the NBA in Golden State in Steph Curry, he is now playing with another excellent playmaker in Luka Dončić, and he had nothing but praise for his new teammate.

“It was great to be there with Luka,” Thompson said. “What an incredible talent… (He) manipulates the game as best I’ve ever seen anyone do. It’s great to be on the receiving end of that and get great looks. Hopefully we can take each other’s games and our team to a take it to the next level.”

The Mavs are coming off one of their best seasons of the past decade, reaching the NBA Finals before falling to the Boston Celtics in Game 5. The title window is wide open for Dallas and adding a player like Thompson who knows a thing or two about winning titles should only help the Mavericks’ chances.

There are still 81 games left in the season, but Game 1 seemed to be a good indication of the kind of season the Mavs are going to have.