NBA Rumors: The reason Klay Thompson chose the Dallas Mavericks over the Los Angeles Lakers has been revealed.
In a somewhat surprising fashion, Klay Thompson emerged as one of the bigger names to test the free agency market this offseason. Once it became a foregone conclusion that Klay was going to leave the Golden State Warriors in free agency, several contenders waited for their opportunity to pitch to the perennial all-star shooting guard. However, in the end, Klay's free agency decision came down to the Dallas Mavericks or Los Angeles Lakers.
Klay ended up choosing to sign with the Mavs over the Lakers, a decision that perplexed many around the league. Many were quick to assume that Klay chose to play with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving over LeBron James and Anthony Davis. However, there was reportedly much more to that.
It's recently been revealed that one of the bigger reasons Klay ended up signing with the Mavs over the Lakers is the fact that Los Angeles was unwilling to promise him a starting spot. Dallas clearly was willing to do so for Klay. The question is, how much will the Lakers end up regretting this potential misstep?
Will the Los Angeles Lakers regret missing out on Klay Thompson?
Considering the Lakers haven't been able to make any tangible additions to their roster so far this offseason, aside from their two selections in the 2024 NBA Draft, it's easy to see why there could be some regret already building for Los Angeles.
However, I don't think we can completely say that until we see how the rest of the offseason plays out for the Lakers. If the regular season begins and the Lakers sputter to start the season, at that point is when we can truly begin to say the Lakers may have whiffed big time in their pursuit of Klay.
Especially considering the Lakers' lack of depth in the backcourt, it is quite odd that Los Angeles wasn't willing to give him the starting nod to begin the year. But perhaps the Lakers have something bigger in mind that they're lining up that we may not know about.
Either way, it will be interesting to see how Klay ends up performing in this next chapter of his career with the Mavs. And based on that, we'll truly begin to understand just how badly the Lakers may have messed up.