Klay Thompson’s first year with the Dallas Mavericks didn’t quite go according to plan, with the Golden State Warriors legend shooting a career-worst percentage from the floor, averaging the least amount of points since his rookie year, and failing to return to the playoffs after his team sensationally traded Luka Doncic and saw Kyrie Irving go down with a devastating ACL injury shortly after.
It's already led to calls for Thompson to reunite with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green at the Warriors, including in a recent mock trade that sees the franchise rewrite their work of last offseason.
Recent mock trade sees Warriors flip sharpshooters again
It wasn’t a total shock when Thompson announced his departure from Golden State at the start of free agency last year, meaning the franchise was well and truly prepared and acted accordingly by signing shooting guards De’Anthony Melton and Buddy Hield.
Hield in particular was seen as the Thompson replacement, coming in as a veteran sharpshooter and at a cost of essentially half of what the 5x All-Star got in Dallas. Like Thompson, Hield had an up-and-down first season with his new team, yet lifted when it mattered most in the playoffs which included an heroic 33-point performance in Game 7 of the first-round against the Houston Rockets.
Flipping Thompson for Hield has hardly aged as a mistake for the Warriors, but they may still hold some regret on how exactly they conducted negotiations with Thompson leading up to his free agency.
Trading for Thompson now would go some way to righting that wrong, something Ryan Shea of Sports Illustrated recently proposed in a mock deal that would see Hield and young center Trayce Jackson-Davis head to Dallas.
“The Warriors are searching for any way to unlock their championship magic just one more time. What better way to do that than to acquire a crucial piece to their success in 4 championship seasons in Klay Thompson,” Shea wrote.
Yet beyond the sentimental reasons and the acknowledgement that they perhaps should have showed more respect to Thompson in negotiations last year, does this deal really make sense from a Golden State perspective?
From a pure on-court value perspective, this would be a foolish deal for the Warriors to make. In today’s era where teams (including the Warriors) are battling against the first or second tax apron, Hield at 50% of Thompson’s salary is far more valuable on your roster.
Golden State would likely reject simply flipping the sharpshooters, let alone adding Jackson-Davis to the deal as well. Sure, the third-year big doesn’t hold a lot of value after an underwhelming second season, but he’s still one of only two centers currently on the roster (three if you want to include Al Horford) and the only one with legitimate athleticism.
That’s something the Warriors are going to utilize at some point next season, even if Jackson-Davis doesn’t start in the rotation. Add that to losing Hield and it’s a situation Golden State aren’t likely to be thrilled by, unless of course they simply want to bring Thompson home.
That might and should happen in the future, but not quite yet as they remain on the hunt to fill out their roster and build another championship contender.