The Lakers’ offseason plan around Luka Doncic keeps circling back to familiar names, and Klay Thompson is the latest one to surface.
Los Angeles has already brought in Jaden Hardy and Quentin Grimes, both players Doncic knows from his time in Dallas, and the team is still looking to add another former Mavericks piece before next season. According to ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel, Thompson is on the Lakers’ radar if he reaches the buyout market.
"Aside from the Heat, two other teams with a level of interest in Thompson are the Lakers and Warriors. Then again, both teams would only want to to add the current Mavs' wing if he were to be a free agent, meaning a potential buyout in Dallas," Siegel reported.
Dallas would prefer to trade Thompson instead of buying him out, since that would allow the Mavericks to recover some value for the four-time NBA champion. But with Thompson’s market described as thin outside of the Miami Heat, a buyout could end up being the realistic path.
That matters for the Lakers because they’ve been aggressive about building a roster that fits Doncic. The team’s offseason overhaul is not done yet, and if Dallas creates a roster spot by moving on from Thompson - the Mavericks currently have 16 players on standard contracts - Los Angeles could be ready to jump in.
The Lakers already tried to sign Thompson in the summer of 2024 before he landed in Dallas. Now they could be positioned to add the same shooter the Mavericks originally brought in to pair with Doncic before sending Luka away in February of 2025.
That’s what makes this whole situation sting for Mavericks fans. Los Angeles’ interest in Thompson only underscores how much Dallas believed in the fit back in 2024. Thompson was supposed to help ease Doncic’s load, and the logic was obvious: Luka thrives when he’s flanked by shooters, and after Dallas’ rough long-range showing in the 2024 NBA Finals, Thompson looked like the ideal answer.
The pairing barely got time to breathe. Doncic and Thompson played just 21 games together, even though the fit was built to be seamless from the start. Luka’s on-ball gravity and Thompson’s 3-point shooting should have been a clean match, and the Lakers seem to understand that as well as anyone.
Now the possibility is back on the table. If Dallas buys Thompson out and Los Angeles signs him, the Lakers would get the chance to see what that partnership looks like over a full season.
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