After the buyout of Luol Deng, the Los Angeles Lakers are now positioned to offer anyone a max contract during 2019 NBA free agency. Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson is expected to be among the players available.
Thompson is one of the best shooters this league has ever seen. Additionally, his father Mychal Thompson played five seasons with the Lakers and still works for the team as part of the radio broadcast team.
Head coach Luke Walton would undoubtedly love to have someone like Thompson on his roster, and recently spent some time with him. Thompson posted a picture on Instagram of him and Walton along with Tracy McGrady and Carmelo Anthony, dubbing the group the future BIG3 Champions:
This caught the eye of Thompson’s Warriors teammate Andre Iguodala. The veteran knows Walton very well as he was a freshman at Arizona during Walton’s senior year. Iguodala took this as a chance to poke some fun at hie fellow Wildcat alum, accusing him of of doing some recruiting:
Luke over there recruiting like a mf…
— Andre Iguodala (@andre) September 3, 2018
Of course this is all in good fun as Iguodala is good friends with both Walton and Thompson. While Walton would almost surely love for Thompson to join the Lakers next summer, he knows better than to cross the line, especially considering the Lakers’ recent issues with tampering.
Thompson will be one of many big names available next summer in what could be the most loaded free agency class in NBA history. The likes of Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard, and Kyrie Irving will also be available and the Lakers will do their due diligence on all possible options in hopes of landing another big star next summer.
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