Mavericks in heavy Klay Thompson pursuit in NBA free agency – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

Within the hours earlier than NBA free company formally opens, the pursuit of Klay Thompson is heating up, with three groups racing to lure him away from the Warriors.

Each Los Angeles groups, the Clippers and Lakers, are exploring paths to Thompson, who will go available on the market as an unrestricted free agent at 3 p.m. PT Sunday. Each have of their favor Klay’s lifelong attachment to the West Coast.

A 3rd crew, nevertheless, is attempting to tug Thompson to new territory: Dallas.

The Mavericks are making Thompson a precedence, based on a league supply. They visualize one of many league’s finest 3-point shooters working in area created by the gravity of ball-dominant playmakers Luka Doncić and Kyrie Irving.

Requested by way of textual content message if the Mavs are searching Klay as laborious because the competitors, the supply, with deep Western Convention data, responded with a one-word message: “More durable.”

Dallas can’t cite the Pacific Ocean as a recruiting pitch, however it will possibly create a sign-and-trade bundle that provides extra money than both the Lakers or Clippers — restricted to the mid-level exception of $12.9 million — can supply.
The Mavericks, with solely Doncić and Irving, locked into contracts topping $15 million, gained’t flinch at a sign-and-trade deal wherein Thompson would get a three-year contract that exceeds $50 million.

Would a three-year take care of the extra money be extra appealing to Klay than joining the Lakers? That is the crew he rooted for as an adolescent and the franchise with which his father, Mychal, gained two NBA championships and is employed as a shade analyst on radio broadcasts.

Would a three-year take care of the Mavericks, a respectable contender that reached the 2024 NBA Finals, be extra necessary than staying on the West Coast?

The Lakers and Clippers conceivably might create a wage slot with out making a commerce.

That is the place the Warriors are available. Within the sign-and-trade situation that assures Thompson an even bigger payday, they have to resolve if any of Dallas’ accessible gamers is engaging. Maxi Kleber ($11 million)? Perhaps not. A extra possible avenue for Golden State could be getting at the least one different crew concerned.

There may be little doubt that on this occasion, the Warriors would quite see Thompson with the Mavericks, if solely as a result of they might not be left empty handed.

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