Earlier this week, Klay Thompson’s rocky tenure in Dallas came to an end as he agreed to a buyout with the intention of signing with the Miami Heat once he clears waivers.
It puts an interesting sliding doors moment back into focus with the 2024 offseason. The Lakers aggressively pursued Thompson with LeBron open to taking a pay cut to help the team sign an impact player.
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To the chagrin of many, including his own father, Thompson chose the Mavericks over the purple and gold. In writing about Thompson’s time in Dallas, Christian Clark of The Athletic revealed what went into that decision.
Back in the summer of 2024, Thompson’s representatives had discussions with the Lakers about him winding up there. It would have made sense on several levels. Thompson has deep ties to Los Angeles. He spent much of his childhood in the city and still owns a home there.
But one of the reasons Thompson chose the Mavericks over the Lakers was that he had concerns about Davis’ availability, a source with knowledge of his thinking said.
Obviously, Luka and Thompson only played about two dozen games together before the former was traded. In a bit of irony that ultimately may have proved Thompson right, he and Anthony Davis only played 27 games together across a season-and-a-half due to injuries to the latter.
AD was mostly healthy prior to being traded, playing in 42 of 47 games for the Lakers after playing 76 games the season prior. Lingering doubt has long surrounded AD and his availability, but he was in the healthiest stretch of his time in LA when Thompson opted not to join.
Ultimately, I don’t think the Lakers would have changed anything, given that they landed Luka in this timeline, but that makes it an even more interesting sliding-doors moment. How differently would things have looked for both teams if Klay was donning the purple and gold?
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Would Dallas have still looked to trade Luka? Would LA still be the team they secretly negotiated with? It’s a butterfly effect we’ll never know about, but I think Lakers fans are happy with how things played out.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRudeor on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.