Did LeBron Make the Lakers Unappealing for Klay Thompson? | DAN BEYER & AARON TORRES

Did LeBron Make the Lakers Unappealing for Klay Thompson? | DAN BEYER & AARON TORRES

there’s something about Klay Thompson going to the Dallas Mavericks that to me is just the one that grabs it the most I don’t know if it was because maybe we expected Paul George I think it’s maybe more of just that the Warriors Dynasty as we know it in that form is over but this Klay Thompson signing with the Dallas Mavericks for me is overtaken the Paul George signing even so the only thing I’d say about clay I still think um in my opinion the bigger story is about the Los Angeles Lakers side of things I think clay the player is probably a little bit overvalued at this point but he does still have value certainly for the Dallas Mavericks as a as a spacing piece three-point shooting but you know the Lakers you know we got all this Good Karma this weekend about LeBron is ready to take a pay cut and blah blah blah blah and you expect this guy to be a a a a primary focus of of their free agency moves uh he’s and everybody knows it but he’s from La his father played for the Lakers so I just look at it from the Lakers as I don’t say free agency’s over but there’s a lot of big names off the board and the only major move that has been made is he had Ault connected bronny last week so I just from I don’t know how how much clay fundamentally changes if he changes at all Dallas but I do think it’s kind of another kick in the you know what for the the Lakers this off so and just to and I think it’s an interesting take because we focus on the Warriors and we focus on the Mavericks but there are reports that clay met with both the Lakers and Mavericks in person last night and ultimately chose to sign with Dallas on a contract that was three years $50 million and they’re trying to work out the three team sign and trade to make this work that hasn’t been finalized as of yet but by all accounts in the tweet from W was the state tax scenario played a little bit of a role but also the fact that clay maybe could have gotten more money elsewhere and then chose to go to Dallas do you think it’s a LeBron thing I mean because maybe it’s always a LeBron thing but or do you think it’s the decisions that they made to appease LeBron that clay wouldn’t want to come to LA because I felt that that was the likely scenario because of all Clay’s connections why do you think he spurn the purple and gold then yeah I’m not going to pin everything on LeBron I think to me it’s just more of a bigger picture the Lakers you know the the the opposite of Denny green they aren’t who we thought they were like you and I live in LA Monty J we all live in LA so we deal with this every day but I still go back to the Dan Hurley thing of You Know Dan the report comes out that that he’s going to interview and all I hear is well you don’t go you don’t turn down the Lakers and I I just remember saying at the time like is it 1984 is Magic on the team is is Byron Scott and AC Green on the you know and so I just think there’s something about this organization from the top down uh and I don’t listen I don’t think it helps that you’re Superstar is 40 years old high maintenance a lot to deal with but I also don’t think you can blame LeBron for everything either because this organization was in a complete freef fall before he got here and so I just think it speaks to me that you know I don’t know like like what is the great thing that jeie bus has done as an owner and Rob pinka has done as a GM since they’ve gotten the job LeBron was coming here LeBron obviously essentially facilitated the Anthony Davis trade with Rich Paul and it’s like those little chess piece moves that have to be made to reev a program maybe you know Rob pinka deserves a little bit of credit at the deadline uh two season ago they were able to get rid of Westbrook and bring in some nice pees pieces excuse me the ruy hamuras ETC but I it’s just I I don’t think it’s a LeBron thing I just think it is a Lakers are not who we think they are thing from top to bottom I I I I think it’s a great observation I think that it does go back to LeBron because I’m trying to put myself in Klay Thompson shoes fair if you’re Klay Thompson and you’re not wanted by The Warriors what’s the team that that would probably pain Warriors fans to you know the uniform to see you in and they may not have the true sense of the word of the Rivalry that it is but the Lakers would sting and the Lakers again were where his dad played he grew up in La he grew up around the team he there was ample reason for Nostalgia to go back to the Lakers and the reason why I think this goes all the way to LeBron is because if you’re coming from an organization where clay watched how they built their championship teams doubt saw how Steve Kerr operated how their assistants operated and now you go to a team that is drafting a second rounder because to your point your 40-year-old star player happens to be his son you’re hiring the head coach for as great as JJ reick may be for all intents and purposes we feel because LeBron had a connection to him where they wouldn’t give Dan Hurley the money I mean you talk about turning it down if they actually would have given him a real legitimate contract offer and made it a much more difficult decision than you would have maybe had more of a reason to take the job if you’re if you’re Dan Hurley but that doesn’t happen so you find out that you lowball your head coach you’d have to wonder where you think that organization is going even with them being competitive to to Denver which was something that that I mentioned earlier that maybe they aren’t as far off as some people think but I still just think that there’s a huge gap for how good the West is is and for the Lakers to be a true title Contender I just I don’t think that they they are there at this point and Klay could have helped that but I don’t know if it would have been enough to bring them to a title championship team but all of that has gone by the wayside because of maybe what the Lakers presented and represented in klay’s eyes yeah I’m trying to think of what the Lakers are and I know this is supposed to be a Klay Thompson segment he’s not with the Lakers but like they they kind of you know what they almost remind me of is they’re like Colorado football like and I know we got you know intern Dean who who goes to see you but it’s like at some point like Colorado kind of just ceased existing in the rest of the college football space like it was his own thing where people who care about Colorado football don’t necessarily care about college football but most college football fans kind of stop caring about them after week two week three and that’s kind of what I feel like the Lakers are at this point they’re certainly not not irrelevant because they have LeBron they’re maybe going to be the most talked about team because of LeBron bronnie JJ reck you love him you hate him he’s swearing at his introductory press conference but they’re not really a contender like it’s just I don’t I can’t think of a lot of teams in sports where we know that they’re not a contender but they’re like legitimately maybe the most interesting team to talk about you know it’s funny you mentioned Colorado because I would say up until maybe last year’s run isn’t that Texas I mean you talk about the brand of cuz I do think that the Lakers brand is the biggest in the NBA I’ve talked about it recently on the show The the star power who they’ve brought in there is still something to it but the brand maybe doesn’t match the results or the the actions going on within those those programs whether it be the Lakers or Texas football for what we’re talking about I think that those things could equate like Texas is always a part of the conversation but it’s not always for the right reasons so in terms of winning and winning titles again taking out last year uh for their with their run to the college football playoff but I think that would be a a fair that’s probably the better analogy I just find it very interesting because I don’t think anybody that’s a real NBA fan legitimately thinks that they’re a threat um but I also don’t I think we all understand in in our business that we’re going to be talking about him a lot next year well here’s let me ask you this question because I think that there’s two different ways that it can go and it’s about JJ reic if you’re Klay Thompson so Klay Thompson essentially is chosen Jason Kidd over JJ reick he’s chosen Luca donic over LeBron James has chosen Kyrie Irving over Anthony Davis and has chosen to go to a city that he hasn’t lived in as opposed to his hometown and where he grew up and where he is from that’s what Klay Thompson chose do you think the JJ Reddit conversation for people coming in or someone like Klay Thompson is I don’t think JJ reick can do this or because JJ reck was LeBron’s guy that is not a good sign to me on how things are likely to be run so it’s really interesting it seems as though because of his work in the podcast that he clearly has respect of the current players like at some point he sat down with all those guys they clearly like him I think if he was a coach somewhere else he might get the benefit of the doubt but I think that last point is so interesting because he’s LeBron’s guy because they did a podcast together I don’t even think it’s free agents I think there’s guys in that building that are probably like am I going to get a fair shake or is it going to be you know coaches pet teachers pet you know basically it’s it’s as LeBron says and and that I think that’s actually a really interesting point that I hadn’t factored in I think we all think of like do you want to play with LeBron he overshadows everything when he when they when you win he gets all the credit when you lose he gets none of the blame I don’t think I factored in enough if I was a player looking at that situation from the outside I do I do think I’d look at it kind of side side ey and then the other thing that you have to factor in I hate to say it because this was my hate it from our love it or hate it segment on the Doug got Le show is I think bronnie fair or not that has to be a factor too right because is he GNA make one appearance so there’s a photo op is he gonna be with the team every day is he going to be expect is he going to be playing every game like I do think those are like if you’re Klay Thompson like are we really about winning or are we about doing it kind of winning you know under the circumstances that LeBron is allowing us to you know what I’m saying I don’t know if this all makes sense it do but I think that has to be part of it so because what you’re saying is we are bending over backwards to appease LeBron but are we doing it because LeBron’s goal is to win championships or are we doing it because LeBron just wants his way because he feels he’s owed that for what he has brought to the league if you are also looking at LeBron willing to take a pay cut they listen I think it’s I do not want to criticize him for that yep because I feel that that is a gesture to show hey I’m willing to take this and he’s done a before they were able to make it work in Miami with how they did it and I think that is something that NFL quarterbacks should should maybe learn to do LeBron is doing it for the reasons that he wants but there’s also this catch22 or the other edge of this you know you want to say double-edged sword is if LeBron is taking a 20% pay cut then things better be going LeBron’s way fair you know in that in that case and cuz some have pointed out out you hired LeBron’s coach you drafted his son in turn is he doing this to help the Lakers out like is would he take a pay cut is he doing this like hey thanks thanks for doing that I’ll take a pay cut for you guys for for doing me a solid and and we’ll make this thing work and I don’t look at it like that as all at all is now in his career it’s more of well if I’m taking a pay cut we’re going to do it my way yeah you know if and that would be also something where you think on the surface it is appealing for someone like oh good they’re going to make room for money for me but maybe for someone like Klay Thompson it isn’t as much because of how much you know Equity he’s got in the game and at this point in his career maybe he doesn’t want to he’s not going to overtake LeBron for minutes and scoring in any of that but just in the culture of your locker room and team maybe he doesn’t want to deal with that yeah and I think also is he going to be holding it against you if that money is spent in a place that it you know if I can’t think of a hypothetical player that they would spend that money on but I I just bring it up because like is he gonna is that and we know some of the things that he’s want in the past he didn’t get he didn’t get Kyrie when he wanted him he didn’t get John Wall when he wanted him and so if he does take less money uh again is that kind of a you scratch my back I scratch yours you get my coach you get my my son whatever but then I do think the counter is are you going to be hearing about it in February if you’re in seventh place are there going to be those subtle things said in the media about well you know I mean I wanted things a little bit different but you know front office said this because we know that that’s how he uses and manipulates the media I think that’s something to factor in as well do you think it’s more likely the Mavericks uh take a step back or take a step forward next season um I think from a seating perspective it’s possible that they take a step forward but the only step forward that they can take from a literal perspective is to win the championship and I don’t think Klay Thompson puts them over the top that is exactly why I asked the question for everything that you just laid out it’s very difficult it is very very difficult to get back to where they are and to do what they did and to have the road that they did the you know they they weren’t competitive in the NBA finals and maybe they use it as a a lesson learned like when they got to the Western Conference Finals there would be that natural progression for them to that point but yeah I think it’s difficult and in that in that West W reporting that because the Mavericks were within three victories of an NBA championship let’s be real they were down three 0 okay like it makes it sound like they were you know a lot closer than maybe they were at least within that series and then he brought up the financial savings for Texas in California tax tax guy on Twitter is is uh among the most annoying of all the Twitter personalities well when you break down the tax brackets it’s like yeah okay buddy we get if that was the case wouldn’t he have just gone where he could have gotten the most money cuz I don’t think he’s getting the most money from the Dallas Mavericks totally fair so there is a bit of a balancing act but I think your point about how this represents the Lakers and not to to inorganically make it a Lakers topic but they were a finalist his dad played for him he’s from here and he still chose to go somewhere else I think that’s a pretty big deal well and I think you could make the case that um I wouldn’t say that his his role or his impact would be bigger but that the decision itself for all the reasons that you said plus kind of stick it to the Warriors there was a lot of things working in the Lakers favor here let’s put it that way obviously the Mavericks right now are further along but he chooses to be and and he chooses to be a Maverick and with some of the bricks that the Mavs were throwing up his shooting could be welcome in Dallas yes

DAN BEYER & AARON TORRES speculate as to why Klay Thomspon would choose to join the Dallas Mavericks over the LA Lakers.

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