Ep. 135: Inside Mavericks Klay Thompson Free Agent Rumors | Is Interest Real or Is It a Smokescreen? - Inside The Mavs

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Nico. You said you love thescore and your goal is to build this
team for championship aspirations. When youlook at the roster construction, what areas
would you say needs to improve forthis team? Really? I think we
have the pieces. I think wejust need to get better ourselves. Since
I've been here, I've always Isay, a but our front office staff,

(00:23):
we've always been looking to make itbetter. So we'll continue to do
that. But the core is intact. You know are if you look at
our top seven eight players that playthe biggest minutes, I don't see anything
happening with that. Klay Thompson.Is it real or is it a smoke
screen? And could Derek Jones Juniorbe a candidate for this dark horse Western

(00:46):
Conference team? This is Inside theMAVs. Welcome to Inside the Mask presented

(01:21):
by Aura. I'm your host,Kevin Gray Maveris Free and post game host
only Dallas Maveris Radio Network. Appreciateyou joining me here for the latest episode
of Inside the Mask. Makes youa download and subscribe to the podcast wherever
you get your podcasts for free.Give it a five star rating, and
write a review for it while you'rethere. If you watch this on my
YouTube channel at Kevin Gray Sports.Makes sure you like a comment on the
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(01:45):
and you can follow me on Twitterat Kevin Gray Sports as well.
NBA free agency rumors and news heatingup as we get ready for the NBA
Free agency period. No shortage oftalk around your Dallas Mavericks going into NBA
free agency given the fact that they'vealready made a trade that hasn't been necessarily

(02:06):
made official yet when it comes toTim Hardaway Junior going to the Detroit Pistons
for Quinton Grimes in a few secondround picks at the same time, is
their opportunity for that trade to expandWe're also hearing potential news around Derrick Jones
Junior and also Klay Thompson. Plentyto get to here on this episode of
Inside the MAVs. But for theMavericks themselves, it's already been an interesting

(02:31):
first few days leading up to theNBA free agency period. As we mentioned,
reportedly, Tim Hardaway Junior heading tothe Detroit Pistons in exchange for Quinton
Grimes, potentially opening up the fullmid level exception to bring back Dereck Jones
Junior. Put a pin in thatbecause there is an interesting Western Conference dark

(02:52):
horse team given the fact that DereckJones Junior has some new representation going into
NBA free agency, that you couldsee a potential natural connection between him and
this team. But before we getthere, the bombshell that was dropped by
Mark Stein, longtime NBA insider andof course running for Substack now these days,

(03:15):
dropping on Friday evening the idea thatthere would be strong mutual interest between
the Dallas Mavericks and Klay Thompson.Yes, four time NBA champion Klay Thompson,
who last year was fourth in theNBA and three pointers made, shot
nearly thirty nine percent from three duringthe regular season. Yeah, I know

(03:37):
about the z of ten in theplaying game. Aside from that, Klay
Thompson still one of the best shootersin the NBA. And when you think
about Klay Thompson, whether he wasa reserve or in a starting role,
let's look at what he was asa reserve for the Golden State Warriors last
year. Average nearly twenty points pergame, shot forty three percent from the

(03:58):
three point line, in fourteen gamesas a reserve. He ranks second on
the team in points per game afterthe All Star Break, shooting over forty
five percent from the field and overforty one percent from the three point line.
And for Klay Thompson, yes,at thirty four years of age,
he may be in a position wherethis is the final payday of his career.

(04:18):
If you're the Mavericks, are youtrying to potentially acquire him and a
sign and trade which would be themost likely outcome if you're trying to acquire
Klay Thompson, who is going tohave interest from teams like the Orlando Magic
potentially from the Denver Nuggets as well. But could all this be a simple
leverage play if you're Clay trying toextract as much as you can from whomever

(04:43):
you may sign with, because itappears his time in Golden State is over
with where you listen to Mark Stein, whether you listen to Adrian Wells Narowski
or whomever, it appears that KlayThompson's time with the Golden State Warriors is
now over and he's looking for hisnew destination. Whereas I mentioned, he's
looking at the potential final payday ofhis career, and are you in the

(05:03):
if you're the Mavericks in a positionto decide if you're going to pay Klay
Thompson a three or four year dealupwards of twenty five million dollars over the
next three or four years, ifthat means you have to move on from
a Josh Green and a Maxi Kleebanand maybe some salary filler in order to
facilitate a sign and trade to allowGolden State to have something in exchange for

(05:26):
Klay Thompson with him potentially leaving fromnothing, or are you the Mavericks,
are you staying Pats and continuing togo down the road with Derrick Jones Junior?
But for Klay Thompson as a fit, yes, a declining defensive player,
but one thing he will continue tohave if he comes to the Mavericks
is a lot of open shots withLuka Doncis and Kyrie Earth facilitating the offense.

(05:48):
Now, the offense that, ofcourse, the Mavericks run will be
a little bit different, especially withthe amount of ball handling that Luca and
Kyrie do. Golden State of coursebeing predicated on over the years, especially
with the way that Stephen Curry isable to move. Without the basketball and
the amounts of screening and the amountof pen downs and everything that the Golden

(06:09):
State Warriors left to do. Froma ball movement and passing standpoints, Klay
Thompson would be in a much differentoffense, but he would still find himself
getting a lot of wide open looks, which we know. Klay Thompson,
even at this point in his career, is still a very capable and very
good three point shooter. And oneof the things that Mavericks did not have
as the season went on, especiallyin the NBA Finals, is a kind

(06:30):
of consistent three point shooting on theoutside that allowed teams to be able to
be spread out because of their abilityto shoot. They didn't necessarily have that,
and I don't want to hear theidea of that. Klay Thompson is
just an older versi of Tim Hardawayjunior. What you're getting in Klay Thompson
if you bring him in, isa guy with tremendous playoff in veteran experience,
obviously, a guy who's made bigshots and have big playoff games throughout

(06:53):
the course of his career. Andyes, I know the amount of injuries
that he's dealt with over the pastseveral years, but at the same time
a player since the injuries that hehas dealt with, has continued to be
one of the most prolific three pointshooters in the NBA. That is what
you're getting if you acquire Klay Thompson. But at the same time, does

(07:14):
he fit the timeline based on whatthe Mavericks are. They are one of
the younger teams right now when youlook at their roster construction and what they
are building, whether it be twentyfive year olds in terms of PJ.
Washington and Daniel Gaffer, the twentyyear old in terms of Derek Elive,
with the second obviously Luka Doncic attwenty five to twenty six years old as
well twenty six going into next year. All of this to say is that

(07:34):
they've got a young core that isbeing built for the future. And Kyrie
Irving, yes in his early thirtiesnow represent one of your older players.
But if you're able to move onand combine a salary of a Josh Green
and a Maxi Cleveland, as Imentioned, a little bit of salary filler
in order to acquire Klay Thompson,do you take what is the open window

(07:54):
now if you try to win achampionship with a player that's been there in
order to try to make that happenWestern Conference that continues to improve by the
day, see what the New OrleansPelicans did in acquiring the john Ty Murray.
Or do you continue to stay witha player in Dereck Jones Junior who's
had a tremendous impact on this team, no matter how you may have felt
the way that he performed in theNBA Finals and go down that road,

(08:16):
which is a cheaper option given thedefense that he provides, especially at this
stage in his career. We'll discussthat on the other side of the break
when it comes to not just KlayThompson the potential fit for the Mavericks,
whether or not this is a mirageand smoke screen, and whether this dark
horse team could be in play forDereck Jones Junior. But before we get

(08:39):
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the Mavericks potentially are in play forKlay Thompson, mark Stein reporting that the
Mavericks are likely to emerge as thefavorite to sign Klay Thompson wants to free

(10:31):
agency period opens, and of coursethe Mavericks had to surrender those three second
round picks in order to acquire QuintonGrimes to move on from Tim Hardaway Junior.
But it appears they've opened up thekind of financial flexibility to offer Klay
Thompson a multi year contract again,according to mark Stein, which is interesting
because now you have another wrinkle beingthrown into this and again whether or not

(10:52):
you feel like Klay Thompson is afit at this portion of his career.
One thing he's going to provide isthe kind of shooting the average desperately need,
especially from the three point line,to go alongside Luka Doncis and Kyrie
Irving, And whether or not KlayThompson, who would be much more effective
in the twenty to twenty nine minuterange, and what that means for your

(11:13):
starting lineup in terms of who hedefends, how he defends it, how
consistent he's able to do that atthis stage of his career is something that
the Mavericks would have to figure out, especially when you had guys like Derrick
Jones Junior and PJ. Washington becomereal stalwarts on your defense, especially defending
on the perimeter. And that's wherethat gets me to Derek Jones Junior.
I want you to listen to NicoHarrison who discussed the kind of priority that

(11:37):
Dereck Jones Junior is for the DallasMavericks and what that means for what a
dark horse Western Conference team may bein play to try and do based on
this take a listen. You mentionedkeeping the top seven Ray players. Obviously
d Jones is included in that group. What's your optimism as far as being
able to work something out with himand do you anticipate that it will require

(12:01):
some kind of tinkering to be ableto get to number Yeah, I mean,
I don't know how we're going todo it. But he's a priority.
He's Priority one, one A,and one B. I think he
fits in with our team. Heloves it here, and we have to
figure out, obviously the dynamics toget him to stay. But yeah,
that's a priority and we'll do whatwe have to do to get it done.

(12:22):
So what are the other priorities?Is something you mentioned one A one
B. No, I said he'sone A and one B. Oh,
he's one A, he's both,I got you. Yeah, So Priority
one A, one B is DerrickJones Junior. Now here's some interesting wrinkles
that we have started to learn hererecently when it comes to Dereck Jones Junior
and his potential coming back to theMavericks. For example, Royce O'Neil has

(12:45):
signed a four year, forty fourmillion dollar deal to return to the Phoenix
Suns. Where you say, Kevin, what does Royce O'Neil have to do
with the idea of Derreck Jones Juni'recoming back to the Mavericks based on what
we think the market is going tobe for DJJ. The idea being between
the ten to twelve million dollars ayear range would make sense based on his
skill set and the career year thathe had with the Mavericks. And a

(13:09):
player who may be in a positionlooking for his final payday of his career
has decided that he's going to signon with Clutch Sports and have Ridge Paul
be his agent moving forward. Andwe know how much influence Clutch has in
the NBA today, which is interestingbecause not only do you look at the
framework potentially of that roys'neil deal beingsomething that you could look at as an

(13:31):
example for a Derek Jones junior typeof deal, where it could be a
three year deal at thirty million dollarsor a four year deal at forty million
dollars, again working at that tento twelve million dollar range, if you
will, And of course the Maverickshaving the full mid level exception based on
the fact that they were able tomove on from Tim Hardaway Junior in exchange

(13:52):
for Quinton Grimes. Now a teamlike the Los Angeles Lakers have put themselves
it's a position with Lebron James optingout of his deal if he decides reportedly
to take less money in order toopen up a full mid level exception for
the Los Angeles Lakers. Could DerrickJones Junior be a fit for the Los

(14:13):
Angeles Lakers given the fact that heis now being represented by Rich Paul and
Clutch Sports, and we know whoLebron James as agent is in terms of
Rich Paul and Clutch Sports, couldDerrick Jones Junior be a play for the
Lakers? And which is interesting becauseif he does move on, he could
see a potential same type of moneybut with a different team in playing with

(14:37):
Lebron James and Anthony Davis, who, of course the Lakers drafted Bronni to
be there. So there's an interestingwrinkle when it comes to Derrick Jones Junior
and potentially him not coming back tothe Mavericks. But if you're the MAVs,
there is a way that you cantry to fit this together. If
you're able to do a sign andtrade with Klay Thompson that will still leave
your mid level exception open, whichwould give you the opportunity to retain Derrick

(15:01):
Jones Junior while also acquiring Klay Thompson. Now you would have to leave some
of your depth and your bench wouldbe leaving in terms of Josh Green and
Maxicalle. But I would imagine ina deal to acquire Klay Thompson. But
at the same time, there isa way for the matters to be able
to both retain Derrick Jones Junior ifthat's something that he wants to do,
which we have her reported then fromDerrick Jones Junior directly from himself that he

(15:24):
wants to remain in Dallas and bea part of this team. The decision
and the question that Derreck Jones Jr. Has to ask himself is is he
willing to potentially take less money tostay in Dallas where he knows his role
is going to be as a partof this starting lineup, or look for
the potential payday with the Los AngelesLakers. Knowing who he's being represented by

(15:46):
and how much of a connection thatis. I do think the better fit
for him, based off his skillset and what the Mavericks have allowed him
to do in earning that spot andbeing able to be a part of this
starting lineup is being here in Dallas. But at the same time that's a
decision that he's going to have tomake. But for Klay Thompson as well,
the decision will be are you utilizingthe Mavericks as a leverage play to

(16:08):
try and extract more value from somewheresomewhere else like in Orlando or another team
that would have significant cap space inorder to bring in Thompson, Or is
there a legitimate interest between Thompson andthe Mavericks given the fact that his relationship
with Kyrie Irving is something that couldplay into this because they're both signed to
the same shoe company in Anta,so there is another natural connection if you're

(16:33):
looking at the Dereck Jones junior onewith him in clutch sports and potentially going
to the Lakers as a mid levelexception fits but also the same with Klay
Thompson in terms of his relationship withKyrie Irving and what that could mean for
the two of them playing together hereon the Dallas Mavericks. But at the
same time, all of this conversationthat we're having today is based on the
fact that the Mavericks will now becomea destination spot because the idea, the

(16:57):
notion of Klay Thompson playing in aMavericks uniform is wild enough. The idea
that Klay Thompson would not be ina Golden State Warrior uniform is even more
wild consider the history that he haswith that team and how much he's been
a part of the dynasty that wasthe Golden State Warriors with Stephen Courage,

(17:17):
Raymond Green of course with Kevin Durantat times as well. But the point
being, the Mavericks are in positionto have the conversations with the kinds of
individuals that will continue to keep thiswindow open, whether it be a Klay
Thompson, whether it be a ContaviousCalwell Pope who may be a cheaper option
given his skill set as a twotime NBA champion, a guy that can

(17:37):
defend and shoot threes as well,and what that can mean for the fit
for the Mavericks. But if youare looking to increase your ceiling from an
offensive standpoint, Klay Thompson, yes, at this stage in his career,
even with the diminished defense that hehas at times and what we've seen from
him, provide you a much betterceiling in terms of that scoring. A

(17:59):
player that can still he'll get youtwenty to twenty five a game, and
if he's used correctly, potentially ina reserve role as well, he becomes
that much more devastating off your bench, especially if you're able to retain a
Dereck Jones junior. So I'm notnecessarily worried about the fit. When it
comes to Klay Thompson, his veteranpresence and his ability to be a real
contributor to this Mavericks team, particularlyon the offensive end, the question will

(18:22):
be do you want to spend thatkind of money on a player on the
down side of his career at thirtyfour years of age who will not provide
you the kind of defense that heonce did when he was a great defensive
player and one of the best twoway players that we had seen in the
NBA over several years ago. Butif you're the Mavericks, what kind of
calculus are you going to make andhow much more creative could you be if

(18:47):
you're going to bring in a KlayThompson. Do you find yourself signing a
guy like a Naji Marshall who's goingto be available in free agency as well
as a guy who's an up andcoming young defender who found theself carving got
a role with the New Orleans Pelicans. Again, all of these different combinations
that you want to put together,how the Mavericks manage their salary cap and
their roster construction. All of thisindicates to me that the Mavericks right now

(19:11):
are and win now mode, especiallyhaving made the NBA Finals at what that
means for this team over the nexttwo to three years. But you've got
to find a way to be creativebecause it is very punitive to find yourself
above that second tax apron. Andif you're the Mavericks, how do you
find a way to potentially keep DereckJones junior and acquire Klay Thompson but maintain

(19:33):
your financial flexibility, which you shouldbe able to do because you've got a
couple of guys that are already undercontract. When it comes to Daniel Gafford,
PJ. Washington. You know thatLuka Doncis is going to sign his
mega contract extension at the end ofthis upcoming season. And yes, there
will have to be conversations about KyrieIrving and his contract extension as we get

(19:53):
into next year as well. Butfor Klay Thompson, I think this is
real. When you look at theinterest between him and the Mavericks. The
connections are there with Luca excuse me, with Kyrie Irving and Clay. There
are also a basketball fit there interms of what Clay does from a shooting

(20:14):
standpoint. And if you're the Mavericksand you're looking at Derrick Jones Jr.
Are you really trying to offer himthe full mid level exception to bring him
back to the Mavericks And what arehis options based on what he may be
looking for and now the representation thathe has in terms of clutch sports.
There's a lot of going to playgoing on here in terms of how this
could look as we get closer tothe NBA free agency and whether or not

(20:37):
these strong mutual interests and the Mavericksbeing the likely favorite to sign Klay Thompson's
actually what it really is based onwhat we've learned so far. But all
of this to say is your Maverickswill be a part of these conversations,
whether it's the trades that they've alreadymade with Tim Hardaway Junior moving on to
Detroit and the financial flexibility and whatthey've been able to do to achieve that

(21:03):
to put themselves in position to acquiresome of these players, or have those
conversations with acquiring these players, orwhat we're learning about Klay Thompson and the
potential fits for the Mavericks. TheWarriors have decisions to make when it comes
to Chris Paul and how they areable to navigate what is his thirty million
dollars that he is owed, andwhether or not they're going to cut him
and move on from him or finda trade partner, and what that means

(21:23):
for potentially bringing back Klay Thompson aswell. All of this will be playing
itself out here over the next coupleof days. But as I've said,
I think this is real between KlayThompson and the Dallas Mavericks, how they
are able to potentially work out adeal and what that means for the two
of them. All of that remainsto be seen here over the next twenty

(21:45):
four to forty eight to seventy twohours based off what we know about the
Mavericks, Kay Thompson and their interestingsituation as well with Derreck Jones Junior.
We'll see how it goes for theMavericks, but nonetheless will be all right
here on inside the MAVs of course, with your latest breaking news when it
comes to the Mavericks and anything elsethat is doing with this team in terms

(22:08):
of NBA free agency and the trademarkets as well. That'll do it for
this episode of Inside the MAVs.Again, thank you so much for tuning
in and watching here on my YouTubechannel, it's Kevin Gray Sports. Makes
you like and comment on the videoand subscribe to the channel here at Kevin
Gray Sports. Download and subscribe tothe podcast wherever you get your podcasts for
free. Give it a five starrating and write a review for it while

(22:30):
you're there, and you can followme on Twitter at Kevin grade Sports.
This has been Inside the MAVs presentedby Aura

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Ep. 135: Inside Mavericks Klay Thompson Free Agent Rumors | Is Interest Real or Is It a Smokescreen?

Episode Transcript

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Ep. 135: Inside Mavericks Klay Thompson Free Agent Rumors | Is Interest Real or Is It a Smokescreen?