Free agent guard Klay Thompson agreed to a three-year, $50 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks on Monday. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the deal required a multiteam sign-and-trade that sends Mavericks guard/forward Josh Green to the Charlotte Hornets and two second-round picks to the Warriors.
“We can’t overstate Klay Thompson’s incredible and legendary contributions with the Warriors during his 13 years with the team,” the Warriors said in a statement. “Klay’s legacy will live on forever and we look forward to the day we can retire his #11 at Chase Center.”
Thompson's deal with the Mavericks ends a historic 13-season run with the Warriors. He won four championships with the Warriors and helped them reach the NBA Finals in 2016 and 2019. Thompson was also part of the most successful trio in NBA history, with Steph Curry and Draymond Green. Last season, he averaged 17.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists while shooting 43.2% overall and 38.7% from three, primarily in a bench capacity.
On paper, Thompson signing with the Mavericks is a good move. Thompson is a good enough player to help the Mavericks get to another title, which barely eluded them this year; however, he isn't performing as well as he has in the past, on the eye test, and on the stat sheet. There's no question that Thompson's performance is down, and I don't think that he can contribute much to the Mavericks. Unless Thompson can step things up and perform at the level we know he's capable of, then this truly isn't a good for the Mavericks, and Klay won't win a fifth championship with Dallas.
As for the Warriors, they have lost two of their best players with Klay leaving, and Chris Paul signing with the San Antonio Spurs. The question now for the Warriors is can they still be championship contenders without Klay and Paul?
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