The Golden State Warriors have a season to finish, either with a disappointing loss in the Play-In Tournament or a last-ditch sprint into the playoffs and a date with the defending champs. Then, however, the offseason will arrive, and the Warriors will have some work to do.
Could that work involve bringing back Klay Thompson? According to one Dallas Mavericks expert, it certainly could.
Klay Thompson is likely to be available
Things have not gone as Thompson expected since he left the Warriors to sign with Dallas in 2024. He was supposed to be an accomplished, veteran shooter to further maximize the offense around heliocentric superstar Luka Doncic.
Instead, Doncic was hurt for much of that first season, and then inexplicably traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis -- who was subsequently hurt for most of his 12 months in Dallas until he was moved along to the Washington Wizards. Dallas then fully tanked their way toward the bottom of the standings to end this season.
The future is bright in Dallas because of rookie phenom Cooper Flagg, but the present is much more dim. If Thompson wants to be playing basketball games that matter, then Dallas is not the place for him. There were already rumors of a trade at the deadline in February, and those should only intensify this summer.
In fact, Mavericks expert Noah Weber believes that if Klay wants to be traded, the Mavericks should and would find him a new home.
Why not San Francisco?
Klay Thompson could return to the Warriors
Things did not exactly end with warm fuzzies when Thompson left for Dallas, but there are some strong ties between Klay, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. If given the chance to make one more run at something meaningful next season, it is at least feasible that he would say yes.
On paper, having a bench gunner like Thompson would make a lot of sense. He would fill a lot of the role that Buddy Hield vacated when he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks, albeit with more size and more swagger. Klay is not the athlete that he once was, and that has ramifications on his defense and individual shot creation, but the 13-year veteran still shot 38.3 percent from deep on 12.7 attempts per-36 minutes. He finished 22nd in the entire league in total 3-pointers despite playing just 21.7 minutes per game.
The question for the Warriors is how they would acquire him. Thompson is under contract for $17.4 million next season, and given how much the Warriors are paying Curry and Jimmy Butler, and how they will likely be trying to improve the overall roster, trading away enough to match Thompson's salary and paying him that chunk of change to be on the team is probably untenable.
The pathway would be a buyout, whether the Mavericks agree to one with him or if he is traded and then bought out. He could then join the Warriors on a veteran's minimum, saving the waiving team nearly $4 million and not using up any of Golden State's other team-building resources.
Where Thompson's head is at in terms of his career will matter. Is he still upset with the Warriors' front office? Does he see himself as still good enough to be a starter on a good team? If he is ready and willing, he would be an excellent addition to the Warriors' bench - at the right time, for the right price.
A Klay reunion? The Splash Brothers made whole? It could be close to happening.