Klay Thompson Makes Intentions Known Amid Lakers Trade Buzz

The NBA offseason has been wild, to say the least, for the Los Angeles Lakers, with the storied franchise going through some drastic changes in the locker room as well as in the front office.

As if LeBron James leaving the team after eight seasons and the roster going through a massive overhaul wasn’t wild enough this summer, the majority team owner, Mark Walter, decided to take a $2.5 billion profit on his newly acquired franchise only 14 months after buying the Lakers for a record-setting total of $10 billion.

Before the Lakers went through yet another ownership change, with Bob Iger and Josh Kushner set to take over, the team was rumored to be looking to add more pieces to its roster, namely a wing and another big man.

One notable player who has surfaced as a potential trade target for the Lakers this summer is four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson.

Klay Thompson Wants to Play for an NBA Title Contender

As of right now, especially all the mayhem that Walter selling the team has caused, there’s no telling where the Lakers’ brass goes from here, or even who will be calling the shots in the front office moving forward.

However, Thompson clearly has one foot out of the door with the Dallas Mavericks, as he has let it be known that he prefers to have a role on a title-contending team in the league, as he told PlaqueBoyMax on a Twitch stream recently.

Mavericks G/F Klay Thompson says that he wants to compete for a championship, not necessarily win one, but have the chance to compete and try and win a title and play a role on a team that can make a deep playoff run #MFFL

(🎥: @PlaqueBoyMax Twitch) pic.twitter.com/gEpG18RDhi
— Kevin Gray Jr. (@KevinGraySports) August 14, 2026

“I want to compete for a championship, not necessarily win one, but just like have the chance to go and try and get another one,” Thompson said about his current mindset. “I want to play a role on a team that can make a deep playoff run. Whether it’s this season or next season. That’s really my only goal.”

With the Lakers making so many changes, bringing in several new players to play alongside stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, there’s no telling if this new-look roster will be a title contender during the upcoming 2026-27 NBA season.

That said, it remains to be seen if Thompson views the Lakers in that light, even though there have been reports that he’s open to returning to his hometown in the twilight of his playing career, following in the footsteps of his father, Mychal Thompson, who won two titles sharing the floor with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Los Angeles.

New Lakers Ownership May Have Stalled Offseason Moves

Sep 25, 2025; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, left, speaks during a press conference to preview the 2025-26 season at UCLA Health Training Center. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Now that there’s a lot of uncertainty and questions surrounding the Lakers franchise, only time will tell what the team will do for the rest of the offseason in terms of roster tweaks.

The team has to clear some space on the roster to get down to the maximum of 15 players before opening night on Oct. 21, but whether that’ll happen now or later is anyone’s guess in the wake of this shocking sale of the team.

Thompson and Jonathan Kuminga (sign-and-trade) have been rumored as trade targets. However, there’s been no indication of urgency to get a deal or deals done, so the wait continues for the Lakers to finalize their roster ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.

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