Stephen A. Smith considers all the potential fallout permutations involving Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors. (2:02)
Free agent Klay Thompson plans to join the Dallas Mavericks on a three-year, $50 million deal that includes a player option, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, ending his historic run with the Golden State Warriors after 13 seasons.
Thompson’s move to Dallas comes as part of a multi-team sign-and-trade that’ll also send Mavericks guard Josh Green to Charlotte, sources said. Thompson had four-year offers for more money but taking less was offset by the chance to win a fifth championship with the Mavs as well as the difference in state taxes.
Thompson, 34, is one of the greatest shooters in NBA history and formed what unequivocally was the best shooting backcourt in the history of the sport alongside Stephen Curry. A five-time All-Star, Thompson’s played a key role on all four NBA title teams for Golden State over the past decade and has had several legendary postseason performances for the Warriors over their dynastic run.
Before hitting free agency, Thompson was the second-longest tenured player with his current team (since 2011), behind only Curry.
Thompson leaves behind a legacy of winning in Golden State; the trio of Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green accounted for 518 wins in the regular season and playoffs, sixth-most by a trio all-time. Their 98 playoff wins together ranks third in NBA history.
Thompson averaged 17.9 points and shot 38.7% from 3-point range on nine attempts per game this past year while coming off the bench in 14 games for the first time since his rookie year. He admitted during the season that the reduced role was hard to deal with, although he did seem to thrive in it – posting better numbers on better efficiency when coming off the bench.
Thompson recovered from missing two entire seasons with a torn ACL and then a torn Achilles tendon to again become a productive player each of the past three seasons, including playing 77 games this past year. He remains an elite shooter, canning 219 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers last season – second most in the NBA.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps contributed to this report.