Klay Thompson may on the rocks in Dallas after just over one year.
The Dallas Mavericks veteran sharpshooter Thompson could potentially be traded ahead of the February deadline, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported on Friday. Siegel notes that it is “no secret” that the Mavericks will explore Thompson’s value on the trade market.
Thompson, now 35 years old, is having a very bad start to his second year with the Mavericks. Though he averaged a decent 14.0 points per game last season, Thompson is now down to 8.5 points per game on a dreadful 34.2 percent from the field and 29.2 percent from deep.
After making seven starts for Dallas to open up the season, Thompson was then demoted to the bench for a game earlier this week. That may indicate that the four-time NBA All-Star will be a full-time bench piece for the Mavericks moving forward.
From a contract standpoint, Thompson is still signed for this season at $16.7 million and for next season at $17.5 million. Thus, it might be a bit tough for Dallas to move him, especially given Thompson’s shoddy start to the year.
That said, the greater point may be that the Mavericks are trending towards becoming sellers at this year’s trade deadline. With Anthony Davis (calf), Dereck Lively II (knee), and Kyrie Irving (ACL) all currently sidelined, Dallas is tied for the worst record in the West at 2-6. Even their rookie phenom Cooper Flagg is dropping depressing quotes about the state of affairs for the team.
