5 Key reasons Klay Thompson boldly signed with Mavericks over Lakers

3. Klay Thompson thinks he'll be a great fit next to Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving

The Los Angeles Lakers looked desperate to land Klay Thompson, and even LeBron James reportedly got in contact with the sharpshooter right after free agency opened, per Adrian Wojnarowski. It appears their conversations continued over the following days until Thompson unequivocally decided to join the Dallas Mavericks.

James even apparently expressed a willingness to take a pay cut if it meant getting Thompson or other free agency targets to come to Los Angeles.

As it turned out, the California native would rather take his talents to Dallas and share the court with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. As Sam Amick reported, Klay tuned into the Finals and "envisioned" himself fitting in with the Mavs' offense by creating space for the team's pair of ball wizards. Ramona Shelburne and Kendra Andrews of ESPN also wrote that Thompson saw himself as an "ideal fit" alongside the Mavs' top guns.

Interestingly, Dallas emerged as last season's leader in field-goal attempts from corner threes. Having stars who demand a lot of defensive attention as Doncic and Irving do has provided the squad with plenty of good looks from those zones. Now, imagine a shooter as elite as Thompson running to or parked at the corner; opponents will have to make a pick-your-poison-type of decision night in and night out.