Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors don’t need to part ways, at least from a practical team-building standpoint. Golden State has about $34 million under the first apron and $28 million under the luxury tax line if they decide to waive Chris Paul. That’s enough money to bring back Thompson at a reasonable price, fill out the roster and restart this team without paying the tax. With this approach, the Warriors would be under no hard cap and would still be flexible enough to make a big trade in the future if they choose to keep Andrew Wiggins as their primary matching salary. Perhaps the second most important player in franchise history is have You can go anywhere.
But clearly, this isn’t just about the money anymore. It’s about everything that comes with it. The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Anthony Slater detailed the entire story of how Thompson and the Warriors got to this point, citing Golden State’s frequent attempts to replace Thompson with draft picks (Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski) and even contract extensions (Jordan Poole) as a source of friction. While not covered in detail by The Athletic, it’s worth noting that Draymond Green signed a four-year deal last offseason in a similar situation. Thompson has been a consummate pro for over a decade. Green clearly has not. The suspension he received during the 2016 Finals may have cost the Warriors a championship and the title of “greatest team of all time.” Green has been suspended several times since then, including in a fight with Kevin Durant during a game. He’s a better player than Thompson at this stage of their careers, but it must hurt a little to know that Green is being cared for and he isn’t, even amid all the controversy.
Thompson’s relationship with the Warriors appears to have deteriorated beyond repair. If a split does occur, the three teams reportedly in the running to acquire Thompson are the Lakers, Clippers and Mavericks. For now, the starting point for negotiations appears to be the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Dallas can get there easily by trading Tim Hardaway Jr. The Lakers can get there if LeBron James takes a pay cut as scheduled. The Clippers can get there if Paul George leaves the team as a free agent.
But can they go further? And how would Thompson fit in to play for each of them? Let’s take a look at these three main candidates and see if other teams could step in.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers seem adamant about using the first apron as a hard cap, which would open the door to paying Thompson outside of the mid-level exception. The Lakers could, for example, execute a sign-and-trade and have five players making $10-20 million a year and bring them back to the Warriors. The easiest move here would be D’Angelo Russell. Would the Warriors want him back? Maybe. Maybe not. But he’s on an expiring $18.6 million contract, so the Warriors could easily sell him in a future trade if they just want a tradeable salary that’s not tied to a multi-year deal. The Lakers are unlikely to give up a ton of draft capital to acquire Thompson, but 2023 first-round pick Jalen Hood-Schifino could be a candidate.
The fit here would be much the same as when LeBron James was joined in 2012 by another aging shooting legend, Ray Allen. The Lakers can’t think of Thompson as his old self. He’s 34 and fading. He can’t guard the guards anymore. But his shooting is still a great weapon, more like a 25-minute player than a 35-minute player. The Lakers have lacked scoring throughout the James era. It helps to have a guy on the roster who can get in a groove and score 30 every once in a while. The Lakers will need to find another defensive back to anchor their offense (with the possible exception of a mid-level player if it’s truly a sign-and-trade), but on the offensive end, surrounding James with shooters has always been a formula for success on both sides.
The Lakers represent a return to hometown for Thompson — his father, Michael Thompson, played with Magic Johnson in the 1980s and won championships. He’s now the team’s radio announcer, and Clay grew up in Southern California. If the money were tied, the Lakers would seem to have the edge on nostalgia alone.
Los Angeles Clippers
If the Clippers keep Paul George and James Harden, they won’t be in the running for this one. They’ll be a second-tier team with no access to a sign-and-trade or mid-level exception. With Harden’s return widely expected, George’s departure is the most likely path for the Clippers. Fortunately, if Los Angeles can structure George’s departure as a sign-and-trade, it would open the door for Thompson to become a Clipper if George signs with another team. That would give the Clippers a trade exception worth George’s new salary that they could use to absorb Thompson in a sign-and-trade.
That would put the Clippers under a hard cap on the first apron, but would be feasible due to the cost differential between Thompson and George. It would be nice if George and his new team worked together, but there’s little incentive for them not to. In situations like this, teams sometimes offer up a second-round pick to incentivize the new team to make a trade exception.
It would be easy to fit Thompson here offensively. Harden is a point guard. Kawhi Leonard also does a fair bit of shot creation. It would be easy to put Thompson between them as a shooter. The defensive issues here would be hard to address. The Clippers don’t have a world-class rim protector like Anthony Davis to make up for their backcourt mistakes, and Harden doesn’t guard anyone at the point of attack. It’s clear that Leonard is a great defender, but do the Clippers want to put a heavy lift on Leonard every night, knowing that the absence of George also means more shot creation responsibility on his shoulders? This is a tough problem for the Clippers to solve, especially when they have few assets available in a trade. They could try to get Gary Payton II in a trade with the Warriors, but Golden State has little incentive to help the Clippers. At the end of the day, this team will be worse than last year’s Clippers, but it’s still a homecoming for Los Angeles with a team that can pay him a reasonable salary, so you can’t count them out.
Dallas Mavericks
Dallas just released Tim Hardaway Jr. to give Derrick Jones Jr. their nontaxpayer midlevel exception. They could simply redirect it to Thompson, but doing so would mean not only paying him a lower salary than he likely wants, but also losing Jones, their best perimeter defender. So it would make more sense to keep Jones using the midlevel exception and then acquire Thompson in a sign-and-trade.
It’s possible, but difficult. The Mavericks have plenty of mid-range salary space left, but how interested would the Warriors be in players like Maxi Kleber or Josh Green? They might help Golden State, but the Warriors seem to want to stay away from multi-year contracts. Dallas could spur them with draft capital, or send these players to a third team that can send the Warriors expiring contracts. There are a lot of moving parts here, but Dallas has a path to get this done.
Dallas’ offense fizzled in the NBA Finals, posting an offensive rating of 106.7. Not taking good 3-pointers was a big reason for that. Thompson is comfortable with a motion offense, but not a heliocentric one like the Luka Doncic show. It will require adjustments on all fronts, but the simple idea of adding a high-end shooter to a team that already has a good defense and two elite creators is obviously appealing. If Thompson’s goal is to win a fifth championship, the Mavericks are probably the team with the best chance of doing so.
field
The tax-free mid-level exception is a pretty reasonable price range for a player with Thompson’s track record. If that’s the line, a lot of championship contenders are within reach. Take the Nuggets, for example. They’re likely going to lose Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and have about $8.3 million to spare on the first apron. If they can pay off the $9 million or so they owe Zeke Nnagy, they could make a mid-level offer to Thompson to replace Caldwell-Pope. Of course, moving Nnagy won’t be easy, but the point is that this path could be within reach for almost any championship team.
Oklahoma City still has about $28 million in cap space. The Thunder could dump some of that money on Thompson, or, unlikely, dangle the low $8 million midlevel exception in front of him if winning is his primary goal. They’d probably have to take the cap space route to acquire him, but imagine giving a Splash Brother to the NBA’s best shooter. Good luck keeping that group.
Virtually any team in the non-taxpayer mid-level exception would have some interest. If Thompson wants to hang on to Golden State, he could trade Luke Kennard with the rival Grizzlies or drive to Sacramento. The Kings looked to acquire Draymond Green last summer and are apparently looking to get the big one. Cleveland needs another 3-point shooter. If the Magic or 76ers miss out on George, they’ll have cap space to work with. Thompson may not get anywhere near his upcoming max contract, but he’s still a great shooter with championship experience. He’d be a good candidate for just about any team that could reasonably spend the money to acquire him.
