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If the Los Angeles Lakers have a strong desire to add another high-profile, perimeter-oriented player, a serviceable low-post threat, and/or a proven stretch four this offseason, partnering with the Dallas Mavericks again could become a realistic path toward doing so.
According to the Stein Line’s Marc Stein, the Mavericks are open to trading three contributors who fit the descriptions mentioned above, which should intrigue a Lakers squad that has plenty of work to do this summer.
“So …Maybe Dallas trades down,” Stein wrote Friday. Yet what happens if the Mavericks keep No. 9 and end up selecting, say, Arizona's Brayden Burries?”
“That's a question I've heard some teams pose in relation to (Kyrie) Irving. As in: Would Burries' arrival soften Dallas' position about making Irving available?”
“Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, as we speak, are the veterans that the Mavericks are seen as most open to trading ... with Thompson drawing particular notice now that he's entering the final season of his current contract valued at $17.5 million in 2026-27.”
Thompson has received his fair share of scrutiny for his declining scoring chops and inability to regularly keep opponents out of the paint at this stage of his career, and it’s all justifiable.
However, those same critics shouldn’t dismiss the fact that Thompson is a 38.3% three-point sniper at age 36, which is one plus that could pique the Lakers' interest after shooting 35.9% from deep this past season.
Washington wasn’t the corner three-point specialist he was in 2024-25, but he was a highly effective low and mid-post weapon who continued his versatile defensive ways in year 7.
The Kentucky product averaged 14.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, and 1.0 steals per game with the Mavericks in 56 contests, which is valuable production that might land him on the Lakers’ offseason radar.
Gafford is easily the best fit for the Lakers out of all the assets Stein listed, as he would give Luka Doncic the attentive and springy pick-and-roll lob threat he’s been missing in Los Angeles since unexpectedly joining the franchise midway through the 2024-25 campaign.
Also, Gafford’s presence as an interior defender would allow Los Angeles’ guards to play a more aggressive style of basketball while defending on the perimeter. The Arkansas product was a 9.5-point, 6.9-rebound, and 1.3-block contributor with the Mavericks this season, connecting on at least 60% of his field goals for the seventh consecutive season (65.5%).
If the Lakers are unable to bring Thompson and Washington to Los Angeles, they should at least make Gafford their newest frontcourt addition.
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