Why the Los Angeles Lakers failed to land Klay Thompson
The Los Angeles Lakers did what they could to land four-time NBA champion and future Hall of Famer Klay Thompson in free agency.
Previous reports indicated that Lakers star LeBron James attempted to recruit Thompson to Southern California the minute free agency opened at 6:00 PM ET on Sunday.
Set to re-sign with the Lakers at some point this summer, James was willing to take less cash if they were able to land one in a trio that included Thompson and James Harden.
That never came to fruition, with Thompson being acquired by the Dallas Mavericks in a sign-and-trade while Harden returned to the Los Angeles Clippers.
We’re now hearing more on what transpired behind the scenes. It’s not great for a Lakers team that still has not done anything of substance this offseason outside of drafting Bronny James.
Los Angeles Lakers offered Klay Thompson more than the Dallas Mavericks
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report noted on Monday that the Lakers offered Thompson a three or four-year deal valued at an estimated $20 million annually. That’s more than what he ultimately signed for in Dallas (three-years, $50 million).
It’s not a great look for the Lakers. It really does seem like the days of players lining up to be LeBron James’ teammate is a thing of the past.
Thompson had natural connections to the Lakers. His father, Mychal, suited up for them during the Showtime era of the 1980s. He’s now a broadcaster for the organization. Even then, that was not able to sway a player in Thompson who views his new Mavericks team as a legit NBA title contender.
Golden State Warriors turned down D’Angelo Russell in sign-and-trade
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Haynes went on to report that the Lakers had offered up Russell to Golden State in a sign-and-trade. The Warriors turned that down flat.
From Golden State’s perspective, it made no real sense to bring Russell on. Stephen Curry is still dominating at the point guard position. Meanwhile, the Warriors’ experiment with Russell lasted all of 33 games back in 2019-20 after he was acquired in the Kevin Durant sign-and-trade with the Brooklyn Nets.
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