The first day of NBA free agency got off to a slow start but picked up steam as the night went on, with a number of key players switching teams, none bigger than Paul George leaving the LA Clippers to sign a four-year max deal with the Philadelphia 76ers.
That leaves Klay Thompson as the biggest domino left to fall, and while there are plenty of rumors that he’s set to leave the Golden State Warriors, his final destination isn’t certain yet. The Dallas Mavericks are considered the favorites, but they have some work to do to land the Splash Brother.
The Mavericks apparently realized they would need more than the $12.9 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception (MLE) to get Thompson, especially since his hometown Lakers could offer the same and the Orlando Magic were willing to offer more. So they pivoted with the MLE, signing Naji Marshall to a three-year deal, and need to work out a sign-and-trade deal to bring in Thompson.
The difficulty is that the Mavericks must both shed salary in a deal to make room for Thompson And There are several ways the Mavericks could proceed, but the most likely is for Dallas to accept Klay under a new $16 traded player exception (TPE) generated by the Tim Hardaway Jr. trade to the Detroit Pistons.
If the Warriors don’t like the Mavericks sending them away, they’ll need a third team. The Toronto Raptors have been quiet so far, but that’s given them the opportunity to take money in a trade or recoup value by facilitating a deal.
Let’s look at such a build that would see Klay join the Mavericks, give the Warriors a solid veteran, and bring another young player back to the Raptors.
