The Los Angeles Lakers have completely reshaped their roster around Luka Doncic, making more additions than any other team while trying to build a 2.0 version of the teams he had in Dallas. LeBron James, Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura, Luke Kennard and Deandre Ayton are gone, while the Lakers added Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams, among others, while also extending Austin Reaves.
The new roster has more defense, athleticism and depth, but no team built around Doncic can ever have too much shooting. That is why the Lakers should pay close attention to Klay Thompson, who could become available if the Mavericks can’t find a trade. Marc Stein reported that Dallas has continued exploring Thompson’s trade market while showing little interest in a buyout for now, although Miami and other teams are hoping that situation eventually changes to land him as a free agent.
The connection already makes sense. Thompson’s father played for the Lakers, they tried to sign Klay before he joined the Mavericks in 2024, and, most importantly, he already knows how to play beside Doncic. His 2025-26 season wasn’t great, as he averaged 11.7 points while shooting 39.3% from the field, but he still made 38.3% of his 7.6 three-point attempts per game.
The Lakers currently have 16 guaranteed contracts, so they would need to clear roster space before signing him. Trading Jarred Vanderbilt and Dalton Knecht would open two spots, reduce the payroll by around $16.6 million, and give them more breathing room below the first apron. Thompson isn’t the defender or scorer he once was, but his movement shooting would still fit perfectly around Doncic.
He Still Produces The Way Doncic Needs
Thompson only averaged 11.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists last season on a rough 39.3% from the field, but none of that really matters compared to the three-point number. He still shot 38.3% from deep on 7.6 attempts a night, with 72.4% of his total shot attempts coming from behind the arc, and while his true shooting fell to 54.1% mostly because he stopped attacking the rim or getting to the line at all, the one specific skill the Lakers actually need from him never went anywhere.
And that shot profile lines up almost perfectly with what Doncic does. Luka averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 8.3 assists last year, and every single defense in the league starts by sending extra bodies at his pick-and-rolls. He doesn’t need another guard next to him wanting the ball and a share of the offense. He needs somebody who’s already moving before the pass even gets there, somebody who keeps a defender attached to him and gets a shot off before help can recover.
Even in a down year, Thompson was still knocking down 2.9 threes a game. Stick him in the weak side corner while Doncic runs a high pick-and-roll with Walker Kessler, and now the low defender is stuck with a genuinely ugly choice. Help off Thompson to tag Kessler’s roll, and Thompson’s wide open from three. Stay home on Thompson, and Doncic keeps the whole middle of the floor to himself. Switch it, and Doncic just goes at the big man one-on-one.
The Lakers shot 36.1% from three last season and finished ninth in offensive rating at 118.2, which isn’t bad, but they still leaned way too hard on Doncic and Austin Reaves to manufacture every single advantage themselves. Thompson takes some of that weight off just by existing on the floor, since his value kicks in before he ever touches the ball. Even after the career-worst season, no defender can fully leave him alone, and those extra couple feet of space he creates can swing an entire possession by themselves.
He’s not just a guy standing in the corner waiting either. He can still fly around pin downs, relocate after giving the ball up, and drag defenders through a maze of screens just to get a look. The Lakers wouldn’t need to design ten different plays around him. Two or three early actions and defenses start having to account for him constantly, and that attention alone makes life a lot easier for Doncic.
There’s No Real Adjustment Period Between Them
There’s also basically zero learning curve here, since this isn’t a new pairing. Thompson signed with Dallas back in 2024 specifically to play next to Doncic, and he averaged 14.0 points while shooting 39.1% from three during the one stretch they actually got to share the floor together. That partnership only ended because Dallas traded Doncic away, not because it wasn’t working offensively.
Doncic already knows exactly where Thompson likes the ball, how he moves off the ball, and how quickly he can get a shot off once the kickout arrives. And Thompson already understands what playing next to Doncic requires: long stretches without a single touch, staying engaged the whole time, and being ready the moment a defense finally overhelps by one step too many.
The role gets even simpler with this specific Lakers roster. Thompson wouldn’t start, and he definitely wouldn’t guard the other team’s best perimeter player. Grimes and Thybulle can eat those tougher defensive assignments, and Kessler gives the whole lineup a real rim protector standing behind everyone.
JJ Redick could realistically use him for 20 minutes a night, lean on him late in games when shooting matters most, and just sit him whenever an opponent starts hunting him defensively. Nobody’s forcing him into 32 minutes a night just because of the name on the back of the jersey.
And a bench unit built around Collin Sexton pushing tempo with Thompson flying off screens behind him would give the Lakers a totally different offensive look whenever Doncic sits. Thompson can’t really create separation off the dribble anymore, sure, but he can still make defenders chase him all over the floor, and that movement by itself opens up driving lanes for both Sexton and Reaves.
The Lakers Have To Move Vanderbilt And Knecht
The Lakers are hard capped at the $209.0 million first apron after bringing in Kessler through a sign-and-trade, and they’re currently sitting with only about $8.1 million of room below that line. On top of that, they’ve got 16 guaranteed contracts on the books right now, one more than the regular season limit allows, so somebody’s leaving this roster no matter what happens with Thompson.
Moving Jarred Vanderbilt and Dalton Knecht is really the obvious answer here. Vanderbilt’s making $12.4 million next season, Knecht’s at $4.2 million, and shipping both out for little to nothing coming back would clear roughly $16.6 million off the books while opening up two roster spots at the same time.
That wouldn’t magically create real cap space, since the Lakers would still be sitting well above the $165.0 million salary cap regardless. What it would do is buy them real breathing room underneath that first apron, which is exactly what they need now that they’re hard-capped there.
One of those open spots goes to Thompson. The other stays flexible. If he’s willing to take the veteran minimum, this whole thing gets simple fast. If he wants more than that, clearing out Vanderbilt and Knecht gives the Lakers room to actually use whatever exception money they’ve got left without slamming into the hard cap.
Vanderbilt can still defend at a high level, sure, but his complete lack of shooting becomes a real problem next to Doncic and Kessler, since defenses just use his defender to load up on Luka anyway, which is the exact issue Thompson would fix by simply being on the floor.
Knecht’s younger and cheaper, but the Lakers are already deep at the wing with Grimes, Thybulle, Ziaire Williams and Cameron Carr all fighting for the same minutes. Hanging onto both Vanderbilt and Knecht while passing on a real shot at Thompson would just be protecting depth that doesn’t fit nearly as well as one elite specialist would.
The Lakers might have to attach a second-round pick just to move Vanderbilt without taking money back, and Knecht should still have enough value to interest a team that’s rebuilding. None of this is some massive sacrifice. It’s more of a roster correction that also happens to solve their 16-man problem at the same time.
The Lakers Would Be Silly Not To Take This Swing
Thompson isn’t a star anymore, and the Lakers shouldn’t pretend otherwise. His defense has slipped, his two-point efficiency is genuinely bad, and there will be nights he shoots them right out of a stretch of the game. All of that’s a lot easier to live with on a minimum deal or exception money than it would be at his actual $17.4 million salary right now.
But the upside here still outweighs the risk by a wide margin. He’s still knocking down 2.9 threes a game, still shooting 38.3% from deep, and he already knows exactly how to play alongside Doncic without missing a beat. Nobody needs him to turn back the clock. They just need him to stand in the right spot, keep moving off the ball, and make defenses pay every time they overload toward the superstar.
For a team built entirely around the league’s most productive pick-and-roll player, that’s about as close to a perfect role player fit as it gets. The Lakers should go ahead and move Vanderbilt and Knecht, clear out the apron room they need, and be ready to move the moment Dallas finally lets Thompson walk.
