The Lakers are believed to have made a bid for Klay Thompson that would’ve been for more years and more overall money than the three-year, $50MM deal he accepted from the Mavericks, according to reports from Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times and Tim MacMahon of ESPN on the Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to RealGM). Los Angeles would have had to send out salary and assets in a sign-and-trade to make such an offer.
The Lakers were “extremely intriguing” to Thompson, says ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. However, sources tell Wojnarowski that the Mavericks’ NBA Finals run and the financial advantages of living in Texas were among the deciding factors for the veteran sharpshooter, who will be joining a new team for the first time since entering the NBA in 2011.
LeBron James reportedly made a recruiting call to Thompson when free agency opened and the Lakers had a face-to-face meeting with the 34-year-old on Sunday night, per Marc Stein (Twitter link). But, as Stein writes, the Mavs had Thompson’s former USA Basketball teammate Kyrie Irving on their side for recruiting purposes and were able to secure Thompson’s commitment following their own face-to-face meeting.
Here’s more out of Los Angeles:
- Having missed out on Thompson, the Lakers shifted their focus to DeMar DeRozan, Jovan Buha of The Athletic confirms. LeBron James would reportedly be willing to accept a pay cut to accommodate the acquisition of DeRozan, so L.A. could theoretically offer the free agent forward more than the full mid-level exception via a sign-and-trade. But negotiating such a deal would be tricky, since the Bulls will want assets in return and likely won’t be open to taking back much – if any – salary due to their own financial situation.
- It’s unclear if there are any other free agent targets left on the board for whom James would take a discount, so if the Lakers are unable to land DeRozan, LeBron would likely be on track to sign a maximum-salary contract with the team, Buha notes.
- Buha adds that the Lakers have been active in trade talks in recent days, discussing possible deals with the Trail Blazers, Nets, and Jazz, among other clubs. Previous reporting has suggested the Lakers have some level of interest in Jerami Grant (Portland) and Cameron Johnson (Brooklyn); Utah has plenty of cap room available and could potentially take on salary as a third team in a sign-and-trade for DeRozan, though that’s just my speculation. The Jazz are also believed to be open to listening to inquiries on some of their veterans, including Lauri Markkanen (to be clear, the Lakers aren’t among the teams that have been linked to Markkanen so far).
- Besides being unwilling to offer Paul George a fourth year, the Clippers also didn’t include a no-trade clause in their proposal to the star forward, ESPN’s Wojnarowski said during a SportsCenter appearance (hat tip to RealGM). George would have been eligible for a no-trade clause with the Clippers because he was signing a free agent contract, had at least eight years of NBA experience, and had spent at least four years with the team.
- Sixers star Joel Embiid was pushing for a return to Philadelphia for Nicolas Batum, who also drew interest from the Bucks, among other teams, reports Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints. However, Batum – who played for the Clippers from 2020-23 – still has family in Los Angeles and considers it home, per Azarly. Azarly adds that the forward’s relationships with head coach Tyronn Lue and some front office members also factored into his decision to return to L.A. on a two-year deal.
The no-trade not being included is kind of a given. After the Bradley Beal disaster, I don’t think anyone ever gets one of those unless the team is straight-up stupid.
I could see the best players getting it, I never understood Beal. I didn’t ever view him as a top 10 player.
Someone like Jokic can be offered a NT and I don’t think anyone has a problem. Giannis too
Jokic yes, but I don’t think Giannis. He’s made enough rumblings about discontent that the Bucks would be unwilling to give it to him.
There have been only 10 players in NBA history to have a NT clause so they are very rare.
LA front office doesn’t get called out nearly enough for how awful they are. Got Lebron and AD and even got health out of them and then surrounded it with the worst roster building I have ever seen from a large market team.
They paid D’Angelo Russell! Insanity.
Zach Lavine is a better fit with Lebron and AD than Demar is by 4.5 miles, if the Lakers front office signs a mid range high usage guy to play with Lebron then Pelinka should be fired borderline instantly
LaVine is such a bad overall player that it’s kind of a toss-up which is the worse fit. LaVine can play well off-ball, but he refuses to do it full-time and rams his face into opposing defenses like a fool when he tries to self-create outside of a pure iso. His contract is also probably the worst in the NBA now that Simmons is on his last year, and he’s injury-prone to boot. At least DeRozan can create for others and be available.
Blame their GM for not getting Thompson. According to warriors insiders they insisted on Warriors taking D’lo in a S/T. Warriors said NO he played for the warriors once and did terrible. If they offered Vanderbilt or Rui the S/T would have went through.
Yes, Rui woulda been a more than acceptable return for Warriors. Vanderbilt woulda needed to be accompanied by another player (Vincent maybe)/a pick or two. I won’t accept Brawny and Rob Knob were dumb enough to think Warriors would want D’Lo back after he didn’t even make it a full season as a member of Warriors – a full TANK season, no less.
Sounds like what they offered the warriors from a few different reports. Maybe Rob never wanted Thompson and just low balled the warriors to claim see I did try. Its going to get harder to get a all star to play with Lebron because players know all the praise goes to LeBron and nobody else.
Riiiiiight. Because the Warriors got so much talent back from Dallas… cope harder
The Lakers are showing their eventual decline with how desperate they are with trying to get another star here! Few draft picks over the next 5 years is not a good look!
The Laker collapsing is so awesome. Nobody wants to Play with Lebum. He truly is poison. GOAT of being despised. ESPN will make it look like Derozen loves The King but DeRozan has no where else to go unless he stays with the Bulls or takes a Huge pay cut.
Apparently even his son isn’t all that excited to play with Brawny Sensation. I saw a clip of him saying it wasn’t his #1 priority.
Seems like some of yall must feel some sense of empowerment by typing – and then posting – negative comments about LeBron.
If you don’t like him, why spend so much energy on him – mentally and physically.
LeBron problem is he thinks everything revolves around him. They lose he wants the coach fired and blames the coach. If they win he claims its ONLY because of him. So why would a player want to be just a side piece on the Lakers never getting praised for all they do and get all the blame when they fail?
That sounds more like media narrative than things LeBron actually said. Dedicated his 2016 Ring to Coach Lue, said they never could have won that title without Kyrie’s shot, is genuinely praising and happy for stars around the league when they get theirs. Spent the 2020 title interview saying that the team and everyone on it had earned their respect and his too. After Kobe’s death, LeBron got a tattoo in his memory and swore to bring a title to LA just as he had.
I get it. LeBron is a huge media presence and you can’t talk about basketball without hearing about him. It can definitely get annoying, and he controls so much of the game that people can’t help but view him a certain way. But the way he’s represented by mass media and social media is so different from what the man himself actually does and says.
People wouldn’t hate LeBron if he acted without the need to praise himself all the time. Putting on that crown is so annoying. Doing the Lebron flop to get foul calls. There is so many unnecessary things he does that gets on people’s nerve that he doesn’t understand. Going to the press and calling out coaches and team mates.
I get that, but A) Blowing all that out of proportion and making it the only NBA news of the day are due to idiots, and B) he’s FAR from the only player to do that, but gets the most flak for doing so by far. Hyping up oneself and one’s teammates are at worst the most minor of sins in the NBA and people treat it like it’s the sole reason for the collapsing economy, world hunger, and whatever other issues they may come up with. People see an easy target and act out on their frustration.
I also blame the sport media for it. Anything that LeBron does they must make a big deal of it. If they treated him like any other star there would be this over hype mess that follows him around.
If Lebron really wanted the Lakers to be able to compete for a championship he’d play for 1 million a year and let them go get players….the guy has enough money to support the next 10 generations of his family
Every time someone does this, I laugh. Nobody leaves that much money on the table, ever. Not in any sport. It never happens.
Not in any sport and not in any job or aspect of life. Telling someone to take less money in order for someone else to make more money makes no sense.
My point was the guy is a billionaire or close to it if the goal is to win championships take less money you have enough to live on…if your legacy matters then do what you have to and sacrifice to strengthen that legacy…but if you only want the money by all means take the money I would…but also it’s not like the guy doesn’t make 5 times outside the NBA as he does in salary…
What if both matter? LeBron has expressed that he wants to own an NBA team after retirement, and that takes money. If both of those are goals, why should he necessarily prioritize one over the other?
I get what you’re saying, but the hyperbole that people often resort to is annoying. No star is ever going to play on the minimum just to win a ring. Dirk didn’t even do that, and he was the king of taking NBA pay cuts.
I guess AD is nobody. How did Kawhi not wanting to play with LeBron work out? Every championship team since the 2020 Lakers had homegrown stars. Nobody that didn’t want to play for the Lakers has a title in that time
Why would DeRozan want to go to Lakers a mere 3 years after Brawny Sensation spurned him in favor of Westbrook? Players don’t forget stuff like that. There are plenty of other contending teams that should intrigue him, assuming they have financial flexibility: CLIPPERS, NUGGETS, KINGS, ROCKETS and SPURS looking to get in the mix of contenders (would he want to go back to Pop?), BUCKS perhaps if they do some roster reshuffling, MAGIC?
He is from LA that is the reason.
So there you go. Clippers.
No one from LA likes the clippers
Nicholas Batum, Kawhi leonard, Paul george, Russell westbrook. There’s just a couple guys from La who like the Clippers.
Instead of looking to add a 3rd star the Lakers should’ve been looking to balance out their roster with solid depth that can help dial in our horrible defense. Picked up a nice shooter in the draft with Knecht, should’ve looked for some role players to lengthen the roster and give AD some help on defense!
I wonder if their GM wanted a third star in Thompson or just pretended he was in pursuit of him. They offered the warriors a very lame trade in D’lo. So of course the warriors said NO.
Honestly, if I were a Lakers fan, I’d want them to go for guys like Gary Trent Jr., Caleb Martin, Miles Bridges, or Saddiq Bey. Mobile wings who can shoot and aren’t trash defensively. That’s been their biggest weakness. They need targets LeBron/Reaves can pick up on the perimeter to allow them to space out the floor and reduce Anthony Davis’ workload on the other end.
Vando actually playing should help the defense a lot, but they need a better backup C than Jaxson Hayes or Christian Wood.
Because in LeBron’s mind, just because there’s nobody available NOW, means nobody will become available in the future. He’ll be the first one complaining when a star becomes available in a few months and they don’t have the money or assets available to acquire him
The ONLY reason Klay Thompson is in Dallas is because the warriors were NOT taking any salary back. That is now clear from the reports.
No D-lo, No Vanderbilt, no Rui. Draft picks that’s it.
If Klay was going to the Lakers it would have been for the 12 million spot LeBron would have created.
The Warriors are going to try to “improve” their roster by trading Wiggins out maybe Moody out etc.
Chris Paul salary gone and Klay Thompson salary gone.
After the Paul George swing and miss the whole plan was to dump those salaries completely.
they would have taken back money if it was a player that fits the team. Why take back a player like D’lo who doesn’t fit. Even Green didn’t fit the team.
Doubtful. The Warriors did everything except state outright “our goal in this S&T was to take back no salary whatsoever”.
Up until maybe late afternoon yesterday, I was obsessed with impact players the Warriors can bring in to help Steph. My stance is slowly changing now. Realistically, what player is out there who could turn this team around – making them IMMEDIATE title contenders – without Dunleavy having to gut the roster and likely giving up more than one of the young players and/or future first round picks? Perhaps the free agency pool will be deeper next summer, allowing the Warriors to upgrade at that time. For now, give the younger players more minutes so they can develop and so we can see who will stick beyond 2025. And then when summer of ‘25 comes along, THAT will be the major crossroads moment for the Warrior franchise – either they re-TOOL and make a major splash via free agency/trade OR they finally officially begin the re-BUILD process; find Steph, Dray, and Wiggins new homes, commit to the young players who proved their value, and hopefully have several first round picks for the next few years.
Warriors are in a hard position in both Kuminga and Moody they are restricted free agents next summer. So they must find out now if they are worth singing or let go. Without playing minutes why would they sign them.
I mean…..I GUESS I’d give up Kuminga, Moody and a 1st for Markkanen. Or Kuminga, GP2 and a 1st. That’s the highest I’d go. Can’t do it if Ainge wants roster players and MULTIPLE picks. Markkanen would be a great #2 to Steph, but that’s the key point to remember: the Warriors would NOT be acquiring a #1-type asset. So you’ve gotta balk if the haul Ainge demands is representative of a #1.
Plus Markkanen would have to want to commit long term. And would you then have to try move Wiggins to make the payroll work out?? I’m starting to think the only way Warriors can contend again – WITH Steph – is if Steph is willing to restructure his deal (is that even an option??).
No, you can’t restructure NBA contracts.