Proposed trade sends Mavericks' Klay Thompson to Lakers for $53 million guard

The 2024-25 season for the Dallas Mavericks has gone off the rails ever since they traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis and Max Christie. Davis has played less than a full game for the Mavericks, and they are now clinging onto the final spot in the Play-In Tournament with 15 games to play. Meanwhile, the Lakers have surged up the Western Conference Standings. So, what's one more trade between the Mavericks and Lakers?

Just mentioning the two likely triggers some emotions for Mavericks fans. And this proposed trade from Bleacher Report's Greg Swartz likely won't help anything, who created a list of trades teams need to make on the first day of the offseason.

This trade sends Klay Thompson and Daniel Gafford to the Lakers in exchange for Austin Reaves and Jarred Vanderbilt. Here's what Swartz said of the deal.

"Reaves is having the best season of his career (19.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.1 steals per game) and would help take playmaking pressure off of Kyrie Irving, who's now likely to miss the beginning of 2025-26 following a torn ACL. A starting five of Irving, Reaves, Naji Marshall, Anthony Davis, and Dereck Lively II would be younger, more athletic, and carry more offensive pop.
Thompson should be thrilled to play with Dončić again and the Lakers get an ideal starting center with Gafford taking over for Jaxson Hayes."

P.J. Washington would probably start instead of Naji Marshall. It's easy to see how this could be alluring, but it's hard to call it realistic. Thompson could've signed with the Lakers last offseason and chose not to, but that was a different time for the Mavericks when they had a lot of momentum following a run to the NBA Finals. And Thompson just said earlier in the week that he still believes in the franchise and wants to help them win a championship.

Mavericks GM Nico Harrison would also be run out of town if he tried to make another trade for the Lakers. Reaves should've been included in the initial trade for Doncic, but he was scared to ask for too much from the Lakers. Giving up more assets to get him would only make things worse.