NBA Rumors: Lakers Could Sign Klay Thompson As Free Agent If These Conditions Are Met, Per Wojnarowski
After news emerged that New Orleans Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis is requesting a trade and has no plans of re-signing with the team once his contract comes up, many sources suggested that the Los Angeles Lakers might start making a move for him as rumored so often in the past. Amid this speculation, it also appears that the team could have a chance of acquiring Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson once he becomes a free agent in the summer of 2019.
The above rumor came courtesy of ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who recently appeared on SportsCenter to discuss the situation surrounding Thompson, whose four-year contract with the Warriors expires after the 2018-19 season, per Spotrac. According to Wojnarowski, the 28-year-old All-Star guard might consider signing with the Lakers this summer provided two things happen — a successful trade for Davis and the Warriors making Thompson an unsatisfactory contract offer.
“The best-case scenario for the Lakers is that they add Anthony Davis and then Golden State doesn’t offer Klay Thompson a max contract,” Wojnarowski said, as quoted by Silver Screen and Roll.
“They try to get Klay to take a little bit less than the max. And if that happens, I’m told Klay’s attention will be on the Lakers if they have Anthony Davis.”
According to Silver Screen and Roll, Wojnarowski stressed that the Warriors still want to re-sign Thompson this summer, but are also dealing with the possibility that Kevin Durant might opt out of the final year of his contract. The publication wrote that Thompson has “always seemed like the most comfortable” in his role with the defending NBA champion Warriors, though it’s always possible for things to change over time.
If Warriors don’t offer Klay a max contract, his attention could turn to LA if Lakers land Anthony Davis, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/Z27WN0vzAB
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 29, 2019
In addition to the conditions that might need to be met in order for Klay Thompson to consider joining the Los Angeles Lakers, Silver Screen and Roll noted that there could be a “ton of work” required so that everything falls into place. For one, the Lakers-centric SBNation blog pointed out that there’s a good chance the team will only be able to trade for Davis after the 2018-19 season. Los Angeles’ salary cap situation was also mentioned as another reason why signing Thompson won’t be easy.
“They’ll likely have some work to do on their books to offer Thompson a full max of their own, a max that would still be less than the max the Warriors could offer him — $139 million over four years vs. five years, $188 million.”
Per Bleacher Report, the fact that Thompson’s father, Mychal Thompson, had once played for the Los Angeles Lakers won’t guarantee either that his son wears the purple and gold. Months before the 2018-19 NBA season started, the elder Thompson was quoted as saying that “Klay’s going to retire in the Warriors’ uniform.” Still, the publication opined that Thompson could still be a good fit in a Lakers lineup that already features LeBron James, and might, at some point in the future, include Anthony Davis.
