Thrilling Mavericks trade rumor opens door for a Klay Thompson Warriors reunion

While all the speculation in terms of what the Dallas Mavericks could do ahead of the trade deadline is mainly related to Anthony Davis, the Mavericks could be hard-pressed to move on from Davis given his injury woes, so perhaps a Klay Thompson reunion with the Golden State Warriors could be Dallas' best bet to acquire some young talent before the deadline.

It's no secret that 23-year-old wing Jonathan Kuminga wants out of Golden State, as he and Warriors coach Steve Kerr have been at odds over Kuminga's lack of adaptability to the Warriors' system. ESPN's Shams Charania recently reported that Dallas and the Sacramento Kings are interested in acquiring Kuminga, so perhaps Kuminga could be someone Dallas could pair with Cooper Flagg as a building block of the future.

Dallas' offense doesn't center around split-actions and constant screening nearly as much as Golden State's offense, so there's definitely still promise Kuminga could buy into a less constrictive offensive system. In this specific mock trade, the Mavericks would be sending Daniel Gafford and Thompson to the Warriors, while Dallas would get Kuminga and Buddy Hield in return, as this trade truly benefits all parties involved.

Thompson-Kuminga swap would be a win-win for everybody

The Warriors desperately need help at center, as their only real rim protector is Trayce Jackson-Davis right now. Draymond Green isn't as athletically equipped to play small-ball center as he used to be, and 25-year-old big man Quinten Post is a pretty limited stretch big, so adding Gafford would give the Warriors a sense of formidability from a rim protection standpoint. Even with how injury-riddled Gafford has been this season, he'd undoubtedly be Golden State's best big man going forward.

Golden State would also be getting Thompson back in this scenario, obviously, which would give them a chance to reunite their big three and let them compete together in the twilight of their careers. Thompson would actually get a chance to be on a playoff team again, and this trade would probably only fall through if Dallas consulted with Thompson beforehand and he didn't want to go back to the Bay Area for whatever reason.

Hield would be a serviceable veteran sniper off the bench at a lower cost than Dallas is paying for Thompson right now, as he's making roughly $7 million less compared to Thompson's this season. Hield is definitely a worse defender compared to Thompson, though, despite being a few years younger, but this ultimately isn't that big of a deal considering Dallas will likely punt on this season, and Hield would be in a bench role behind Max Christie anyway.

Kuminga is obviously the huge drawing point for Dallas to make this trade, and while it would suck from Dallas' perspective to not accrue any draft capital for Gafford or Thompson, Kuminga still has All-Star potential if he finds the right system.

He's a very versatile defender when bought in, and has the potential to be a true three-level scoring threat from the wing if he works on his outside shot more, not to mention he's averaging a career-high 6.2 boards per game this season in less than 25 minutes per game. Kuminga has been getting DNP-CD's from Kerr a ton recently, and while he's viewed as a distressed asset in some circles, a change of scenery and role in Dallas could be exactly what he needs to take the next step in his career.