Mavs Out-Duel LeBron's Lakers To Sign Klay Thompson: NBA Free Agency
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00:00The Dallas Mavericks and the New York Knicks count as big winners in the early days of
00:06NBA free agency.
00:07I'm Mike Fisher covering the NBA.
00:09The Dallas Mavericks, let's start there, they get their man in Clay Thompson from the Warriors,
00:15an emotional divorce in Golden State, and in Dallas, this is one of the greatest 24-hour
00:21periods in Dallas Mavericks history, go back to the 1998 draft day when they found a way
00:27to land both Steve Nash and Dirk Davidzki, future superstars, although they didn't know
00:32what they were getting at all at the time.
00:36This in a sense compares to that.
00:39Here's the sense, never, because Dallas has not been a NBA free agency destination, much
00:45to the chagrin of Mark Cuban and Mark Cuban observers, that has suddenly changed.
00:52This is now a place of interest, and Clay Thompson proves it by saying to the Lakers,
00:58nah, I will pass on staying on the West Coast, I'll pass on more money, I'll pass on being
01:04with my dad's old team, of course, Clay Thompson's dad still works with the Lakers, and I'll
01:09pass on LeBron, and I'll make the move.
01:12Meanwhile, the Warriors lose their men in Clay and Chris Paul with dollars and cents
01:16involved.
01:17All moves are the spurs in what does seem like a sensible shift in terms of the mentoring
01:23of Wembley.
01:24That makes sense.
01:25The Knicks get another star.
01:28Who fits?
01:29If you follow our work here, you know that we hate the idea of the perfect fit, the ideal
01:33player.
01:34There's no such thing.
01:37Until some combination of Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan is created, there will
01:44be no perfect player.
01:45Okay, throw Bill Russell in there or whatever.
01:49But Brooklyn Bridges jumping from the Nets to the Knicks, it's a very good fit and a
01:55superstar caliber player, all of which, to the delight of many NBA fans, leaves LeBron
02:00and the Lakers with an empty shopping bag as Dallas outmaneuvered them to Clay.
02:05An empty shopping bag, unless one considers brawny a top-shelf basketball move.
02:12Fish out.