Klay Thompson will join the Dallas Mavericks, league sources said Monday, a move that ends his 13-year run as a core member of the Golden State Warriors dynasty.
The Warriors will receive two second-round draft picks — Dallas’ 2031 second-round pick and a 2025 least favorable pick between the Denver Nuggets and the Philadelphia 76ers — to complete the sign-and-trade deal, per league sources.
Thompson, 34, has spent his entire career with Golden State, winning four NBA championships and making five All-Star teams.
He played 77 games last season, averaging 17.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Thompson’s 268 3-pointers made ranked fourth in the NBA last season.
His decision closes the chapter on a months-long saga surrounding Thompson and the Warriors front office. Golden State had no communication with its star guard as the negotiating period opened, per team and league sources.
The Warriors, after other business, wanted to circle back and negotiate with Thompson, but he wasn’t interested in being a willing secondary priority in their summer plan, with his side feeling that the Warriors’ interest in a reunion was disingenuous.
This split is a major stunner across the league, given the deep history between the Warriors and Thompson. It been trending this direction for a couple seasons, as Thompson’s extension talks stalled, his role shifted, the team failed to make the playoffs. The Warriors drafted (Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski) and extended (Jordan Poole) possible replacements under him and he never felt reciprocated love from management about his firm place in the franchise’s plans, league sources said.
That continued into this summer. The Warriors maintained an outward desire to keep Thompson as part of the core, but they made it clear it’d have to come at the right price, in the right role and he’d have to wait for the right time.
The Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers were also expected to be strong suitors at the outset of free agency.
For most of the past decade, the Mavericks were known as the team that chased star free agents and then failed to get them, retreating to backup plans and promising future pursuits behind false bravado that couldn’t quite hide the embarrassment.
That was another front office pitching an entirely different team. Now it’s Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving helming the team. Now it’s Nico Harrison leading the front office. And now the Mavericks have signed a free agent who might be the biggest star name acquisition in franchise history: Klay Thompson.
Thompson is no longer the four-time champion who helped transform the sport’s understanding of space, who turned quarters into shooting exhibitions. He has declined as a defender, which poses major questions to a team that’s built around two superstar guards who don’t dazzle on that end. But Thompson remains a star both by name and production: 20 points and 40 percent shooting behind the arc across his past two seasons.
Dallas traded skill and shooting for physicality and defense during last season’s run to the Finals. Now, they’re trying to strike the balance between those two.
It’s also true that Thompson’s decision to leave Golden State, the only home he’s had for his 13 years within the league, seemed to be influenced by his desire not to be compared to the player he once was. Dallas offers him the opportunity to win and be himself without the blacklight being shined upon him after every poor performance. Just look at how Irving has reshaped his public image.
There remain aspects of the deal to be worked out, which currently involves Josh Green being moved to the Charlotte Hornets. The negotiations involved with the Golden State Warriors, however, are ongoing. Dallas must find common ground to reach a sign-and-trade that would bring Thompson here.
It’s a riskier win-now move than others Dallas could have made. The front office could have simply doubled down on what brought this squad to the Finals last season. But in convincing someone like Thompson to choose them, it did send one clear signal: This franchise no longer resembles that old one you knew.
With Thompson ending up in Dallas, the Lakers have now struck out with all three of the prime candidates LeBron James was reportedly willing to take a pay cut for: Thompson, James Harden and Jonas Valanciunas.
DeMar DeRozan is another name to watch for as a potential non-taxpayer midlevel exception candidate for the Lakers that James would be willing to take less for, league sources confirmed. ESPN was first to report. Outside of DeRozan, it’s unclear which players would reach the threshold of prompting James to take a sizable pay cut.
The Lakers are expected to have 15 players with guaranteed contracts once James re-signs. To sign a player to the non-taxpayer midlevel exception, or even to a minimum contract, they will have to execute a consolidation trade that creates an empty roster spot.