Draymond Green ‘Happy’ Klay Thompson Left Warriors For Mavericks: He Wasn’t Happy Here

Four-time NBA champion Draymond Green said on the “Club 520 Podcast” that he’s happy Klay Thompson left the Golden State Warriors for the Dallas Mavericks. 

Green said Thompson wasn’t happy in Golden State anymore. 

“He provided cap relief for this organization on his way out,” Green said. “Got some picks sent back to the organization on his way out. And I believe in second-round picks. I got no choice but to believe in second-round picks. So I’m happy for him. I’m happy he left, because I did not enjoy at all seeing him the way I saw him last year.”

Thompson averaged 17.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.5 blocks in 2023-24 for the Warriors while shooting 43.2% from the field, 38.7% from beyond the arc and 92.7% from the free-throw line.

The Warriors drafted Thompson with the 11th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft out of Washington State. Thompson made five All-Star teams, two All-NBA teams and one All-Defensive team with the Warriors. He helped the franchise win four championships.

Thompson has career averages of 19.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks. He turns 35 next season.

“I look forward to being rejuvenated here,” Thompson said at his introductory press conference with the Mavericks. “There’s a lot of good basketball left in the tank.”

The Mavericks lost to the Boston Celtics in the 2024 NBA Finals in five games. Dallas now has a “Big 3” of Thompson, Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic. 

According to NBA insider Sam Amick of The Athletic, Irving and Dallas head coach Jason Kidd heavily recruited Thompson to the Mavericks. 

“Thompson had talked on the phone and texted routinely with Irving, his old rival from those Warriors-Cavs finals matchups of yesteryear and an expert if ever there was one on the topic of rectifying a career amid a dimmer spotlight in Dallas,” Amick wrote. “He had talked on the phone with Mavs coach Jason Kidd, the Hall of Famer who won a title with the Mavericks in 2011 and who offered to cut his family vacation short to make the recruiting meeting.”