NBA Insider Baffled By Lakers' Klay Thompson Stance Before Mavericks Trade

NBA insider Ric Bucher did not hold back when he gave his honest opinion about the Los Angeles Lakers’ pursuit of Klay Thompson before the four-time NBA champion agreed to a three-year, $50 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks.

For Bucher, the Lakers shouldn’t have wanted Thompson in the first place because he thinks the 34-year-old shooter has a greatly diminished basketball value.

"Sentimentally it would've been great to see him in the same uniform that his dad won a championship in while LeBron & Bronny are playing together, but beyond that, I don't understand why the Lakers would want Klay Thompson," said Bucher on Fox Sports 1’s Speak .

Buchen then continued to break down why Thompson is no longer the dangerous two-way weapon he used to be during his prime years with the Warriors, even pointing out that the Lakers had a bunch of better shooters last season than the five-time NBA All-Star.

"He's not the defender that he once was. He's a sharpshooter from the perimeter, correct? Yes. Well, let's take a look at the Lakers sharpshooters and how they stack up this past season to what Klay Thompson did for the Golden State Warriors. I'm counting five guys who shot better from three-point range than Klay Thompson did."

Last season, Thompson shot just 43.2 percent from the field and hit just 38.7 percent of his attempts from behind the arc. His 3-point conversion rate was still solid but relatively speaking, it doesn’t compare much with his success from deep in the past. Thompson is a career 41.3 percent shooter from behind the arc.

Related: Klay Thompson Reveals His Dad is Probably Rooting for the Lakers