DALLAS — Klay Thompson has joined Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving on the Mavericks after they made their first run to the NBA Finals since winning the title 13 years ago.

It’s Year 2 for Victor Wembanyama with the Spurs after the French wunderkind helped lead his country to the gold medal game at the Paris Games.

Ja Morant should be there for the Grizzlies, who have dealt with turmoil and injuries with their star guard since before the second of straight Southwest Division titles in 2023.

Zion Williamson has a mostly healthy season under his belt with the Pelicans, and the Rockets are trying to build on coach Ime Udoka’s promising debut.

The Southwest conversation starts with the Mavericks, who edged the Pelicans for the division title last year before rolling to the Western Conference championship as the fifth seed.

“The expectation is to win a championship,” said coach Jason Kidd, who has led the Mavs to at least the West finals in two of his three seasons. “Hopefully, we’re lucky enough to be put in that situation.”

A look at the Southwest in the predicted order of finish:

Mavericks

The Mavs moved quickly to improve after the five-game loss to the Celtics on the NBA Finals. That wasn’t the case two years earlier after also losing in five games in the West finals to the Warriors.

Thompson was on the other side of that 2022 series on the way to his fourth championship with Splash Brother Stephen Curry and star forward Draymond Green. There figures to be an adjustment period for Thompson after spending his first 13 seasons with the Warriors.

The presence of Thompson will help lift some of the scoring load from Doncic and Irving. The center tandem of Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford should provide offensive punch and rim protection.

Grizzlies

Morant’s shoulder injury, which sidelined him not long after he opened the season with a 25-game suspension over off-court issues, wasn’t the only injury problem last season, when a three-year playoff run ended.

Second-leading scorer Desmond Bane missed half the season with a sprained ankle as the Grizzlies went 27-55 and finished 13th in the West, a far cry from being the conference’s No. 2 seed the previous two seasons.

And those were just the major injuries with trade acquisition Marcus Smart limited to 20 games himself.

By season’s end, all the injuries led to 33 players donning a Grizzlies uniform — an NBA record.

The Grizzlies started camp relatively healthy, but second-year player GG Jackson II will be out at least three months with a broken foot.

The Grizzlies also have a key addition in big man Zach Edey out of Purdue, the AP’s men’s college basketball player of the year the last two seasons. At 7-foot-4 and a slimmed down 290 pounds, the Grizzlies hope the ninth pick overall in the June draft, serves a big role as a rebounder, screen-setter and shot blocker.

Pelicans

While Williamson is hoping to be healthier and more dynamic than he’s been in his first five NBA seasons, the future of high-scoring wing Brandon Ingram is unclear. Ingram is in the final year of his contract and has been the subject of trade speculation.

The addition of Dejounte Murray gives the Pelicans a ball-dominant point guard and allows fellow guard CJ McCollum to go back to his more natural position of shooting guard.

But the Pelicans are missing an experienced true center to protect the rim. They drafted 7-footer Yves Missi, but he’s too raw to be relied upon to play important minutes. They’ll try to play small ball with 6-foot-7 forward Herb Jones and 6-8 Daniel Theis at center.

Rockets

After making a 19-game improvement in the first season under Udoka, the Rockets have adopted a playoffs-or-bust mantra this season. They have reason to believe that could happen with a team that is virtually unchanged.

The additions of Dillon Brooks and Fred Van Vleet before last season added much-needed veteran experience and leadership to help the Comets’ young players develop. Now recent high draft picks Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson must all take a step forward.

Spurs

Chris Paul’s arrival has Spurs fans dreaming of a newly incorporated Lob City, with the veteran point guard feeding Wembanyama for one sensational dunk after another. The 39-year-old Paul doesn’t want anyone to jump to conclusions, including his teammates.

“Everyone is always going to be focused on him and how can they stop him,” Paul said. “Hopefully we use that to our advantage at times. Vic is such an unselfish guy that I know that he understands that already.”

Wembanyama, Jeremy Sochan, Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson led the youngest roster in the NBA last season to a 22-60 record last season. San Antonio believes they can snap a five-season postseason drought now with the additions of Paul, fellow veteran Harrison Barnes and No. 4 pick Stephon Castle out of Connecticut.