The Splash Brothers era officially came to a close on Monday.
Klay Thompson is joining the Mavericks, leaving the Warriors after 11 seasons, four championships and five All-Star Game appearances.
It’s a major win for Dallas, which gets better and prevents the Lakers from securing the long-range sniper.
LeBron James was reportedly willing to take a pay cut for Los Angeles to land Thompson, and even spoke to him at the start of the free agency period on Sunday night, but the 34-year-old chose the Mavericks.
Thompson agreed to a three-year, $50 million deal with the Mavericks, ESPN reported.
The Warriors — who released a statement Monday night saying they will retire Thompson’s No. 11 jersey — helped facilitate it with a sign-and-trade that also involves the Hornets.
The Warriors will receive two second-round draft picks — the least favorable of the 76ers or Nuggets in 2025, and the Mavericks’ in 2031.
Dallas is sending Josh Green to Charlotte as part of the deal, according to ESPN.
The Lakers, meanwhile, have been quiet.
Follow all the latest updates on NBA free agency, including signings, trades and rumors.
Their biggest moves so far this offseason have been hiring podcaster-turned-coach JJ Reddick and using a second-round draft pick on James’ son, Bronny, who most experts believed should’ve stayed in college for at least another year.
One possibility could be signing shooting guard DeMar DeRozan, a Los Angeles native and six-time All-Star.
The 6-foot-6 Thompson has lost a step, and is coming off meager production — for him at least — of 17.9 points per game, his lowest output since his second year in the league.
He isn’t the same defender he once was, posting a 116.1 defensive rating a year ago.
However, he is still a high-level shooter — he hit 38.7 percent of his attempts from 3-point range last season — and should create more space for Mavericks stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
Thompson was part of one of the great shooting backcourts of all time with Stephen Curry.
He is sixth all time on the NBA 3-pointers list, trailing only Curry, Ray Allen, James Harden, Damian Lillard and Reggie Miller.
He also owns the record for most made 3-pointers in a single game with 14.
The Warriors did make a move of their own on Monday, and it was a shrewd one, agreeing on a one-year, $12.8 million deal with 3-and-D wing De’Anthony Melton, previously of the 76ers, The Athletic first reported.
Melton averaged 11.1 points last year in 26.9 minutes and is a career 41 percent 3-point shooter.
As expected, Paul George and the 76ers agreed to a max deal of four years and $212 million early Monday morning.
On Sunday night, the Clippers released a statement that the two sides could never get close to an agreement, making clear which direction this was headed.
The 34-year-old, nine-time All-Star gives Philadelphia arguably the top trio in the league, alongside Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.
Maxey, a restricted free agent, was also locked down by the 76ers on a five-year, $204 million max-contract extension.
The Pistons landed veteran wing Tobias Harris on a two-year, $52 million contract, giving them a much-needed court-spacer to pair with former No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham, who agreed to a five-year, $226M max rookie extension on Sunday.
Detroit also hired a new coach on Sunday in JB Bickerstaff, the former Cavaliers’ coach.
It was a big day for the contending Oklahoma City Thunder.
They found a new starting center in former Knick Isaiah Hartenstein, agreeing to a three-year, $87 million contract and kept two quality role players in sharpshooting guard Isaiah Joe (four years, $48 million) and wing Aaron Wiggins (five years, $47 million).
