The Dallas Mavericks are expected to explore a trade market for one of their stars nearing the end of his contract.
It’s been three weeks since ESPN reported that the Dallas Mavericks front office is expected to explore a trade market for Klay Thompson. Since then, the team lost Anthony Davis for reportedly six weeks to several months. Despite having a bright future under young star Cooper Flagg, hopes for this season are waning. With the Mavs likely missing the playoffs and looking to have a higher pick in the 2026 NBA draft, that puts them in a different timeline building a core around Flagg – one that feels difficult to include Thompson, Davis, and still-injured Kyrie Irving. But with Thompson the only one playing and movable for not a high price, Dallas may consider moving on from him at the February trade deadline.
Thompson has one more guaranteed season left on his contract and probably isn’t going to compete for a championship at this rate with the Mavericks. So, Dallas could do right by the aging star and look to move him to a contender. There are a few options that have some familiar faces – certainly, the Golden State Warriors. But despite only playing 20 or so games with him on the Mavs, there’s another former teammate that Dallas could look to reunite Thompson with: Luka Doncic on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Here is the full story from Mavs Roundtable writer Jonah Kubicek making the argument to send Thompson back to California – but southern this time.
As Kubicek points out, there’s certainly bad blood with Dallas fans and dealing with LA. However, sports are a business, for one, and the goal is ultimately winning over remediating fan feelings. But frankly, with the franchise now having a new cornerstone player in Flagg, it’s a chance to move on, and a way to do that is by staring those past mistakes in the face and being able to deal with them.