LeBron James appears to really want Klay Thompson on the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Warriors star, who entered NBA free agency Sunday, received a call from James right when the open negotiating period started at 3 p.m. PT, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on "SportsCenter" a few hours later (h/t Real GM).
"[Thompson], his agent Greg Lawrence at Wasserman are talking with a number of teams, including the Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks," Wojnarowski said Sunday. "They've had conversations tonight. I'm told LeBron James called Klay Thompson right when free agency opened at 6 p.m. [ET] -- reached out, talked to Klay Thompson.
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"The expectation that I have right now is these conversations, this negotiation will go into tomorrow. There probably will not be a resolution tonight, but certainly Dallas, the Lakers, the [Los Angeles] Clippers are working to be involved in this. Those are the prominent teams for Klay Thompson, whose career is going to be somewhere other than Golden State once this free-agency period's over."
While several teams reportedly are interested in Thompson, only one has The King recruiting for them. And James reportedly is very high on the four-time NBA champion bringing his talents from the Bay to SoCal.
But, per Wojnarowski, Thompson has a full list of conversations with other teams.
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James, who will be an unrestricted free agent after he opts out of his $51.4 million contract for the 2024-25 NBA season, wants to re-sign with LA -- possibly for a discounted price to help add an "impact player," his agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, told ESPN on Saturday.
ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported Saturday, citing sources, that one of the players James is willing to take a pay cut for is Thompson, who appears more than likely to leave Golden State.
Could the lure of Thompson's hometown -- he was born in LA -- be enough for him to sign with the Lakers, for whom his father, Mychal, once played? It very likely will play a huge part in his eventual decision, and joining one of the greatest NBA players of all time certainly has its draw.
And if none of that was enough in the first place, James reportedly made sure to do his part with a simple phone call.
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