Marc Stein reports ‘strong mutual interest’ between Klay Thompson and Mavs

Gulp.

We’ve known for a while that if Klay Thompson were to leave the Golden State Warriors, it wouldn’t just be to chase the biggest contract possible. He was never going to waste away on a lottery-bound team just to make a few extra bucks in a career that has already brought him generational wealth. If he leaves — the likelihood of which certainly feels at an all-time high, despite Golden State’s open desire to re-sign him — it will be to reset somewhere else ... but somewhere where he feels the dream of a fifth ring is still attainable.

A team that just made the NBA Finals would seem to check that box. And indeed, on Friday afternoon, Marc Stein reported that there is “strong mutual interest” between Thompson and the reigning Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks.

It’s easy to see Dallas’ interest in Thompson, a five-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer. The Mavs have a need for a three-point shooter after Tim Hardaway Jr. fell out of their rotation in the postseason — and was traded this week as Dallas kicked off their offseason. And after falling short in a deep playoff run — the Mavs lost 4-1 to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals — Dallas could surely use a battle-tested, championship-proven veteran to help them not just with scoring, but with mentality.

Adding Thompson would certainly give the Mavericks one of the most high-octane backcourts in the league, with Dallas already riding a two-headed monster of Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving, who combined to average 59.5 points per game last season.

Needless to say, the thought of Thompson playing in Dallas — where he can’t even take a boat to games — and potentially facing the Warriors in the playoffs, is not something most of us are ready to emotionally process. We’ll just have to see what happens on Sunday, when the free agency moratorium ends and players are free to sign anywhere.