In the summer of 2024, Klay Thompson, one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, became a free agent and it seemed like a foregone conclusion that he would be leaving the Golden State Warriors. With the Los Angeles Lakers in need of a 3-point shooting boost, not to mention a solid wing defender, it made complete sense that they would target him in free agency.
Thompson has ties to the Lakers with his father, Mychal Thompson, winning a pair of NBA Championships with the franchise and still serving as the team’s radio color commentator to this day. But Thompson would instead choose to sign with the Dallas Mavericks that summer on a three-year, $50 million deal.
At that time, Thompson felt that the Mavericks were the best fit and would allow him to compete for a championship, which is understandable considering they were coming off an NBA Finals appearance. And according to Joe Vardon, Christian Clark and Sam Amick of The Athletic, Thompson even took far less money to sign in Dallas over the Lakers:
For Thompson, the 35-year-old who left the Golden State Warriors in the summer of 2024 for the chance to play with Dončić and contend for a title, he now finds himself in a far worse competitive position than the one he left behind. What’s more, the specific issue that caused such a divide between him and his old Warriors team — Thompson being asked to come off the bench as a sixth man — has returned anew. And the irony of it all, in terms of the free agency choice that brought him to Dallas, is that he likely would have been playing alongside Dončić with the Lakers right about now if only he’d known how this would turn out.
As was reported at the time, the Lakers and Thompson discussed a four-year, $80 million deal in free agency that — if the Warriors cooperated in a sign-and-trade — would have dwarfed the three-year, $50 million deal the Mavericks would eventually give him. But the allure of Dončić’s greatness was a major pull, as was the chance to partner with Irving in the backcourt. When given the choice between teaming up with the Lakers’ duo of Davis and LeBron James or the Mavericks’ stars, Thompson made a calculated decision to go with the latter. Little did he know that the star player swap to come would leave him on the wrong end of hoops history.
The fact that Thompson would turn down an extra year and more money per season to join Dallas is a bit surprising. But as was noted, the chance to play alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving played a big role in his decision.
Of course, the irony of Doncic being traded to the Lakers less than a year later is not lost on anyone and, had he come to L.A., he would be running right alongside the superstar guard right now.
Luka Doncic says Lakers can’t wait for LeBron James to return
While Klay Thompson and the Mavericks have struggled to start this NBA season, the Lakers are off to a strong start behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. LeBron James has yet to suit up this season, but it looks like he is nearing his return to the court and Doncic recently said the Lakers can’t wait for that to happen.
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