The Warriors went 37-45 last season, and the roster still feels old and kind of fragile going forward. Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody are both coming off big knee injuries and probably won’t be ready until at least February.
That leaves Golden State thin on the wings and pretty dependent on Stephen Curry, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Draymond Green, Brandin Podziemski, and some younger guys who haven’t all shown they can handle real minutes yet.
This is the point where bringing Klay Thompson back wouldn’t just be some random move to fill a spot. It would be about giving Curry, Draymond, and Klay one more chance to play together before the whole dynasty thing is officially over. There’s obviously a lot of emotion in that, but there’s also some real basketball sense to it. Klay isn’t the same guy who won four titles with them; nobody’s pretending that. But he’s still a guy who can shoot a ton of threes, and that’s always useful next to Curry.
Last season with the Mavericks, he put up 11.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in about 21.7 minutes, shooting 39.3% from the field and 38.3% from three on 7.6 attempts. That’s not prime Klay by any means, but 7.6 threes a game at 38% is still real spacing that helps everyone else.
The Warriors shouldn’t be giving up real young talent or first-round picks just for the nostalgia. Something more realistic would be salary matching around an injured Moody, Gui Santos, and maybe a future second-round pick.
The Trade Framework
Golden State Warriors Receive: Klay Thompson
Dallas Mavericks Receive: Moses Moody, Gui Santos, 2033 second-round pick
On the money side, this trade lines up nicely. Klay is on an expiring $17.5 million contract for next season. Moody is at $12.5 million and Santos at $4.6 million, so you’re basically at $17.1 million going the other way. It matches without forcing anyone to take back weird long-term money.
Why The Warriors Would Do It
Their wing depth right now is thin and awkward. Butler is coming back from the ACL, and Moody tore his patellar tendon back in March against Dallas, had surgery, and was done for the year.
Before the injury, though, Moody was having a legit breakout. He was averaging career highs at 12.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.0 steals while shooting 40.1% from three and hitting 151 threes.
The problem is the injury. A ruptured patellar tendon isn’t something you just shake off in a couple of months. He might come back fine, but he could also need time to get his explosiveness and defensive timing back. For a team trying to get one more real run out of Curry at 38, sitting around waiting on Moody to be ready by midseason or later is a real issue.
Klay gives them something they can use right away. He can shoot, he already knows the system inside out, and he can play 18 to 24 minutes without needing any development. Even now, Curry and Klay together still create problems for defenses because of everything they’ve done in the past. The relocation threes, the split actions, all that stuff. Klay doesn’t need to drop 20 anymore. If he can give them 10 to 12 with real gravity from three, the whole offense gets easier.
It would also feel better emotionally than it might look at first. Klay left, played a couple of years in Dallas, and now he could come back in a smaller role with lower expectations. Just one last ride with the guys he knows, better shooting, and no pressure to be the old version of himself.
Why The Mavericks Would Listen
The Mavericks went 26-56 last season and finished 12th in the West. Keeping a 36-year-old Klay on an expiring deal doesn’t really fit where they’re at. They need younger pieces around Cooper Flagg and the rest of the young core they’re building.
Moody is the main piece for them, even with the injury. He’s only 24, still under contract through 2027-28, and was coming off his best year before he got hurt. A 6-6 wing who shot 40% from three on real volume is exactly the kind of player a rebuilding team should take a shot on if the medicals look okay.
Santos helps with the salary and adds a little forward depth without creating future problems, and the 2033 second gives them another asset down the line. The Mavericks would probably ask for more at first, but Klay’s real value right now is just a veteran shooter on an expiring deal. Moody plus Santos plus a future second feels like a fair offer if they want to get younger and open up minutes.
Why This Isn’t Just Nostalgia
The Warriors shouldn’t do this just because Klay is a legend. That would be sloppy. They should only do it if they think he can actually help in a specific role and if Moody’s injury timeline makes his contract less useful for this upcoming season.
Moody is probably the better long-term player if he comes back healthy. He’s younger, bigger, and was turning into a more complete 3-and-D wing. But the Warriors aren’t really in long-term mode anymore. Curry is 38, Draymond is near the end, Horford is 40, Butler is coming off the ACL, and Porzingis has his own durability questions. This group is built around urgency.
Klay fits that urgency better. He doesn’t need time to develop or learn the offense. He already knows Curry, knows Draymond, knows Kerr’s system, knows the building and the standards. He can just come in and be Klay, just a smaller version of it.
There are downsides, obviously. They’d get a little older, the defense would probably take a step back if Klay has to guard real wings, and the long-term upside isn’t as high as keeping Moody and hoping he bounces back. That’s why this isn’t some no-brainer. It’s a bet on squeezing one more playoff run out of this core before it ages out completely.
The Warriors Should Make The Call
This whole idea lines up with what’s actually being reported about Thompson’s situation. Marc Stein has said that Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington, and Daniel Gafford are the Mavericks veterans they’re most open to moving, and Thompson stands out even more because he’s heading into the last year of his deal.
For the Mavericks, the logic is pretty straightforward. They went 26-56 last season; they’ve got Cooper Flagg and Morez Johnson Jr., drafted 9th overall in the 2026 NBA Draft, as young frontcourt pieces they’re building around, and there’s not much reason to keep a 36-year-old shooter around if the goal is getting younger.
For the Warriors, the bet is simple. If Thompson is actually on the market, they should at least make the call. He’s not going to make them title favorites, and he’s not going to fix their defense, but he would bring back that elite movement shooting, the chemistry with Curry, and a much cleaner, more defined role than he had in his final season with Golden State. If Dallas is really shopping him, the Warriors should be one of the first teams on the phone trying to figure out the price.
