Lakers reportedly made aggressive offer to Klay Thompson

Jun 5, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) warms up before game two of the 2022 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers failed in their effort to land Klay Thompson from the Golden State Warriors, but it was not for a lack of trying.

Chris B. Haynes of Bleacher Report said Monday that the Lakers offered Thompson a contract worth roughly $20 million annually in a bid to get him to choose the Lakers. Haynes added that the Lakers proposed a sign-and-trade deal with the Warriors that would have involved D’Angelo Russell, but the Warriors were not interested.

Lakers offered Klay Thompson '$20M per [year]' and proposed D'Angelo Russell to Warriors in sign-and-trade deal.

The Warriors declined, per @ChrisBHaynes pic.twitter.com/HcfK0PxoM0

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 1, 2024

It is unclear if the Warriors’ lack of interest in Russell was the biggest obstacle, or if Thompson simply preferred to go to the Dallas Mavericks. If it is the latter, Thompson took significantly less money to go to Dallas relative to what the Lakers were supposedly offering.

The Warriors already had Russell on their roster four years ago, and by their own admission, it did not work. Even with Thompson gone, there is no reason to think they would have wanted to do that again.