Lakers listed as potential destination for this future Hall of Famer
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers are probably going to put a bow on the 2022-23 season in the not-too-distant future. With Anthony Davis out, this team has not been able to compete at the same level and the wheels are starting to fall off.
The longer this goes on the less likely it is that the front office makes any kind of trade to improve the team. While Davis will eventually return, it might be too little too late with how quickly this team could plummet without him.
Thus, it might already be time for Lakers fans to look ahead to the future with this team. Los Angeles has around $30 million in cap space to spend next summer. But with the team likely not wanting to get hit with the repeater tax, it may wait to spend most of that money or only sign one-year deals.
Thus, we may have to wait another year until the team brings in a big-name player and there is already a future Hall of Famer attached to LA. A Western Conference executive told Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports that Klay Thompson could leave the Warriors after his current contract and listed the Lakers (along with the Portland Trail Blazers) as a potential destination.
Klay Thompson has deep ties to the Los Angeles Lakers.
There is a reason why the Lakers could be a potential destination for Thompson once he becomes a free agent. Thompson’s father, Mychal Thompson, was a member of the Lakers from 1988 to 1991. He won two championships with Los Angeles as a key role player in that stretch.
This made Thompson a Lakers fan growing up, which is something he confirmed in the NBA Finals when the Warriors squared off against the Boston Celtics.
Klay Thompson, who grew up a Lakers fan, recalls watching Kobe face the Celtics in Finals:
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) June 2, 2022
“20 years later, I get to play the team I was rooting against.”
(via @melissarohlin) pic.twitter.com/25Kojqldke
So the connections are there and the potential desire is there for Thompson. But this is a rare instance in which the Lakers should be careful and probably should not bring in Klay, especially if the price tag is similar to what it is now.
Thompson has not been the same player since he has come back from his injuries. While he has flashed moments of brilliance and has been that guy for stretches, the fact of the matter is that the old Thompson is no longer there.
It definitely won’t be there when he is a free agent and is 34 years old in 2024. While he is a future Hall of Famer and a huge name in the sport, he probably won’t even be a top 40 player in the league by the time he is a free agent.
If Thompson is signing a cheaper deal to come into town and be a role-playing three-point shooter then that would be great for the Lakers. He could be this team’s version of late-career Ray Allen, who pretty much won the 2013 NBA Finals for the Miami Heat. That is doable.
But if he is still asking for superstar money and there are other teams willing to dish that out then the Lakers need to stay far away from the bidding war and let it figure itself out.