Klay Thompson leaves in sign-and-trade with DAL; GSW gets two late draft picks and $16m trade exception for more moves; also, De'Anthony Melton signs for $12.8 m / 1y

Farewell, Game Six Klay, and thanks for the greatest team basketball run in history

Jul 02, 2024

The index for all DNHQ Free Agency Coverage is here.

End of an era, Klay leaves

Free agent guard Klay Thompson has agreed on a three-year, $50 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks, ending his historic 13-year run with the four-time champion Golden State Warriors, sources told ESPN on Monday.
Thompson's deal was largely inspired by the chance to compete for a fifth title with the Western Conference champion Mavericks.
The deal, negotiated by his agent, Greg Lawrence of Wasserman, required a multiteam sign-and-trade that sends Mavericks guard/forward Josh Green to the Charlotte Hornets and two second-round picks to the Warriors. Dallas is sending its own 2031 second-round pick in the deal, a source said.
…
In the final season of Thompson's remarkable 13-year Warriors career, his relationship with the franchise became increasingly strained over contract discussions and his looming free agency. His departure became more and more likely as the season progressed.
His unhappiness grew as his role with the team fluctuated throughout the season -- punctuated by him being pulled from the closing lineup in early February and moving to a bench role later that month.
Thompson, 34, averaged 17.9 points last season, his lowest since 2012-13.
His Warriors tenure ends with his place in franchise and NBA history cemented. The trio of Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green accounted for 518 wins in the regular season and playoffs, sixth most by a trio all time. Their 98 playoff wins together rank third in NBA history and their four titles are tied with Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker for the most by an All-NBA trio over the past 50 seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Slater writes:

The two second rounders coming the Warriors' way to finish up this Klay Thompson sign-and-trade to the Mavericks, per sources

2031 Dallas second
2025 least favorable between the Nuggets and Sixers

De’Anthony Melton arrives

Levick wrote:

De’Anthony Melton’s Sixers stint is done after two seasons.
The North Hollywood, California native has agreed to move to the Golden State Warriors on a one-year, $12.8 million contract, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported.
When healthy, Melton often boosted the Sixers with sharp defensive instincts, outside shooting, and high-level rebounding for his position. The 26-year-old became a key piece for the Sixers after arriving from Memphis two years ago in a draft-night trade. Melton started 58 games in the 2022-23 season and notched 10.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.6 steals per contest.
However, he played through a back issue for much of that year and his 2023-24 campaign was derailed by a recurring lumbar spine injury. Melton played just 38 regular-season games and seven total playoff minutes.
He said at his exit interview that he would not require offseason surgery.
“We have talked about that, but no,” he told reporters. “No surgery, which is real good. I think where I’m at now is just rest and recover, but at the same time, strengthening the other stuff to where this doesn’t come back in any type of fashion.”

(Update) What the heck is a trade exception?

People are understandably completely confused about what a trade exception is. Perks is working on a piece, but I am not sure how elementary it will be.

Here is my quick stab at an explainer using an example many of you will know.

In Nov 2020, the Warriors had a $17.2m trade exception. They used it to receive Kelly Oubre Jr. from OKC in exchange for a draft pick (which eventually became two second rounders). Notice that GSW sent *no* players.

This was possible because KOJ had a salary of $14.4m which is < $17.2m.

Without the trade exception, this would be impossible because GSW is over the cap and they could only add players by trade when the exchanged salaries are within some closeness (I think it was 125% of smaller salaries at the time).

So in Jul 2024, GSW is hoping to find 1 or more players whose salaries sum to less than that the new trade exception (something like $15-16m).

Can GSW send out players? Not in the trade using the trade exception.

Can GSW combine the trade exception with some other exceptions? No.

Can GSW use the trade exception like a big coupon in a bigger trade? No.

The subtlety of the No answers is that you could in theory use the trade exception (like get Oubre) and then do another side trade that is completely legal on its own. But in all cases, it would have to be a parallel trade.

I hope that clarifies things a little.