Klay Thompson might have put himself on the trade block with some horror performances to start this season, but the fate of the Golden State Warriors legend is now even more up in the air following the axing of Nico Harrison as general manager of the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.
Harrison's removal will only create more speculation on what the Mavericks choose to do next, with the potential of re-setting their timeline after the infamous Luka Doncic trade seemingly gave the franchise a shorter, win-now window.
Klay Thompson and other Mavericks veterans could be on the move
It's not all bad news for Dallas who did stunningly luck into the No. 1 overall pick and Cooper Flagg, even if the 18-year-old's start to his NBA career has been slightly underwhelming based on the massive expectations.
With Harrison now gone, the Mavericks may feel more comfortable pivoting away from their veterans and building for the long-term around Flagg. That puts Thompson and other previously core players on alert, particularly if their early woes continue amid a 3-8 start to the season.
Brett Siegel of Clutch Points already reported last week that Dallas will explore what they could get in return for Thompson in the coming months. One thing working in the 5x All-Star's favor if he doesn't want to be moved is the fact his value may have fallen so far that the Mavericks can't get anything significant coming the other way.
Harrison brought Thompson to Dallas on a three-year, $50 million contract last year, meaning he's still got another season at $17.5 million beyond the $16.7 million he's making this campaign. Based on his current form, there's likely to be very few teams interested in the 35-year-old at that number.
Thompson has now played three games since his controversial move to the bench against the New Orleans Pelicans last week. While there were some initial positives when he went for an equal season-high 11 points on 3-of-6 3-point shooting in that Pelicans matchup, it's been more of the same struggles since as Thompson has gone for only six points on 2-of-13 combined shooting over his last two games.
The future of the 4x NBA champion is now just one of many interesting storylines surrounding the Mavericks over the next few months, but don't expect the Warriors to have interest in a reunion with Thompson given the contract complications.