Report: Klay Thompson, Mavericks agree to three-year deal

Despite strong interest from the Lakers and a big push to sign him, Klay Thompson has reportedly agreed to a deal with the Mavericks.

The Lakers certainly attempted to pull out all the stops in an attempt to land Klay Thompson, but it will be for naught. Despite being in the mix from the beginning, Klay will reportedly sign with the Dallas Mavericks on a three-year, $50 million deal, according to multiple reports.

The deal will require a sign-and-trade to be completed.

The pursuit of Thompson came in the 11th hour before the start of free agency. LeBron James’ opted out of his contract and made it known he would take a pay cut to sign a big name with the mid-level exception (MLE).

Immediately, Klay became the target and top priority with that MLE. The Lakers were also one of the teams that met with him to open free agency. By every account, they were pushing hard for him, including a phone call from LeBron James at the start of free agency.

However, once the possibility of a sign-and-trade with the Warriors became real and the chances of him signing somewhere for anything other than the MLE grew, the Lakers chances shrank. Given their cap and roster situation, the Lakers would only go so far in sign-and-trade talks as well, still needing to improve their own roster.

While it’s not reported whether the Lakers were one of the teams to offer a four-year deal to Thompson, it’s clear that the contract itself wasn’t the biggest factor here. The Lakers could make a compelling offer — a really compelling offer, in fact — but the Mavs are the team that just made it to the Finals and are retooling their roster. It’s hard to argue that Thompson made a bad move here.

The end result was the Lakers losing the battle for Thompson. Now, the question becomes whether the Lakers and LeBron look for another potential MLE signing or if he takes the max contract and decides against the pay cut. All three players initially reported — Thompson, James Harden, and Jonas Valančiūnas — have signed elsewhere. While someone like DeMar DeRozan could be an option, the field is rapidly thinning.

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