Extension talks between the Warriors and Klay Thompson have been “dormant” since training camp and likely won’t get serious until after the season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on NBA Countdown (video link).
That means there’s a decent chance Thompson will become a free agent on June 30, but Wojnarowski notes that’s typical of the way Golden State handles its most prized assets. Draymond Green was allowed to reach free agency before he signed his latest deal, the team didn’t come to an agreement with former general manager Bob Myers before his contract expired, and there hasn’t been an extension yet with head coach Steve Kerr.
Thompson is earning $43.2MM in the final year of his current contract and will be eligible for a four-year extension worth up to $220MM. The Warriors will almost certainly be unwilling to offer him anything close to the full amount because of his age and declining production. Thompson will turn 34 in February and is averaging just 15.7 PPG this season while shooting 40.6% from the field and 36.1% from three-point range.
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Chris Paul and Andrew Wiggins missed the Warriors‘ game on Saturday, but they’re both expected to return soon. Paul, who suffered a lower left leg nerve contusion earlier this week, was able to go through his normal pre-game shooting routine, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Wiggins, who hurt his right index finger in a car door, also warmed up before the game and expects to be able to play in a couple of days, Slater adds (Twitter link).
- James Harden offered words of encouragement to Russell Westbrook during the Clippers‘ game on Saturday, per Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Westbrook has shifted to a sixth-man role and has seen his playing time decline since Harden was acquired in a trade last month. Westbrook played just 19 minutes Saturday, and Harden could sense that he was getting upset. “I told him to just stay with it. It’s a long season and I know it’s probably frustrating for him because his minutes are fluctuating,” Harden said. “But I think all of us are trying to figure out how we want to play our different lineups and see who works better with who and things like that.”
- Suns coach Frank Vogel said Bradley Beal is in a “workload and then see how his back responds type of phase” as he rehabs his low back strain, tweets Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports. Beal, who has only played three games this season, is scheduled to have his condition reevaluated this week.
I may as well copy and paste this every 3 weeks.
Most of us have known this the last two seasons. Klay Thompson will play out this year and become a free agent.
He’ll try to shop around and get his best deal, which won’t be much, and give the Dubs an opportunity to match it.
Then he’ll resign with the Warriors for maybe 3 years and 25 per.
This scenario depends upon him playing at a decent level not only the regular season, but the playoffs as well.
If he falls apart in the playoffs like last season, perhaps the money will be closer to 20 million a year, unlike Draymond Green’s and Andrew Wiggins recent extension at 25 per year.
I agree with what you said. He will end up getting a Wiggins deal around $25 million a year. More likely a 3 year deal. With How Moody is coming along and Podz the warriors need to keep future money open to resign them.
Do you guys think Klay has 3 years left? And if he does, in year three is he going to be a 25 mil a year guy? At some point you have to let guys go. Warriors might waste the last elite years of Steph trying to retain what was instead of building what is.
3 years and $75 million is very fair from Golden State. They won a lot of rings with Klay. They can afford to eat all three years if necessary. They are still printing money in San Francisco.
Klay will fight for every dollar until the end, and like @GaryWarriors said …. He ultimately will find Golden State’s money is the biggest money out there for him.
Warriors owner will keep him around just to keep Curry and Green happy. When he becomes a free agent reality will hit when the offers are very few and under $20 million a year. They just can’t handicap themselves anymore with older players. CP3 is gone and that will save them $30 million next year.
Put CP3 + JK + Klay/Wiggs + picks in a deal with the Jazz for Lauri + THT or Yurtseven, Sexton or Kelly O
I support Markannen, he’s playing really well, but that offer is waaaaay past his trade value (which is high)
Yes, Warriors love 3 yrs at $25m per but Klay is insisting on 4 yrs $30-35m per. I would love to see Klay transform into 6th man starting next yr.
Clay to Orlando is the best move. In all cases they gotta start shopping thier guys.
Clay? To Orlando? Huh?
Detroit needs to figure out what they need to give the Clippers for Bones Hyland, who ain’t getting no minutes anymore.
If the Pistons think they will work better with Cade off the ball ….. Bones Hyland would be a great candidate to make that happen. He’s young and he is better than your other options.
Bones would also be an excellent trade target for the Chicago Bulls. He has proven he can play, and he is buried on the Clippers bench. Might be able to get some nice value at a lower price.
Bones problem he is inconsistent in his play. Wouldn’t cost much to take him out of LA.
They need to pull him out of there.
James Wiseman for Bones, and perhaps a 2nd attached to one of them. Who says no?
Unsure if the clips could use a young project-type big, but I see both players getting a better opportunity elsewhere. Pistons may need another team to send Hayes or another guard out that they don’t plan on building around to give Bones a chance to earn some minutes.
Ayo, Coby and Bones, would be redundancy, redundancy, and redundancy.
Harden being the one to console Russ is so ironic lol. Like bro ur the reason he’s unhappy
Kerr is an idiot. 8 seconds left other team is in penalty and rather than driving the ball. Let’s just pass it to Dre for the 3pointer for the loss. Wow
Wow you dont have Draymonds back? Fairweather fan…
Obviously you don’t know basketball lil D. 2 time mvp driving the lane for a lay up possibly foul is a better choice than Dre corner 3. Yes he is .473 from the arc thru 12 games. If you watched the game you would of seen he hit all of his 3’s in the first quarter. 0-4 rest of game.
I don’t like it either, but there’s a reason a team like the Dubs send a 23yo with 4yrs/$120m to a team for a 38yo with 1yr left, and one of those reasons are because sometimes, teams regret big deals they’ve given to players, and would rather have an expiring contract to reopen that salary for more flexibility than continue paying their younger player $20m-$30m a year for several years.
I don’t like how it feels, but if I wasn’t a diehard fan, I’d say the logical move is to try and trade Klay Thompson’s expiring deal for a player that has several years remaining, but can score 20ppg. It’s not going to be Luka, but we might be able to snag a Zach LaVine, Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, Jerami Grant, Kyle Kuzma, DeAndre Hunter, etc. Now, Klay’s making bonko bucks. Like, nearly $40m bucks. Grant, Kuzma, Hunter are in the $23m-$30m range, so perhaps the Warriors would have to throw in more draft capital in order to receive a package of 2-3 players making a combined $40m. I’d prefer 2 players, as 3 negates the purpose, and can lead to a block at positions played by promising talent like Podz, Moody, Kuminga, and TJD. However, you can argue that those 4 can fill in at all five spots(Podz PG/SG, Moody SG/SF, Kuminga SF/PF, and TJD C/PF) so it is inevitable.
However, if Klay believes he is worthy of another max deal, he cannot return. I’m not saying he’s ineffective, but it’s starting to become clear that MOODY’s offering in athleticism, defense, IQ, and fit are beginning to outweigh why Klay brings to the table. They already gave Draymond too much, however Draymond has his uses as a secondary ball handler & defensive captain(see Wiggins’ numbers with Dray’s on/off minutes, and it’s easy to see that Draymond makes players around him more cohesive when he’s right, and acts as a secondary coach on the floor). CP3 has negated some of Draymond’s strengths as they overlap a bit, which explains Dray’s stat decline this year from last year, but a guy that gets 8/8/8 a night with above average defense is valuable.
At this point, Klay is just an overpaid sharpshooter, that hasn’t found consistency this season from behind the arc, the only thing he can offer at this point. We all knew his lateral movement & therefore his perimeter defense would decline after those terrible injuries, but he’s not big enough to guard stronger/taller players, and he’s too slow to guard smaller/faster players. When he isn’t shooting(which has become the norm) he’s a net negative as his defensive contributions are purely by awareness, positioning, experience & luck, and when has Klay ever been known to as “attentive”?
CP3 shows us how Draymond can age. The league always has a need for high IQ ball handlers/passers. But Klay is playing like a guy who lost it and is desperate to find a Time Machine.
Klay’s defensive decline is part of the reason they gave up on Wiseman. After a few months, it became clear that they required GP2 as a point of attack defender despite his shortcomings on offense, and it’s a good thing they traded for him, because with DiVincenzo leaving, Wiggins’ decline, & the addition of CP3, the Dubs’ point of attack defense & guard defense would be EVEN WORSE without the efforts of GP2, Moody, Kuminga & Podziemski.
We’re at the point where guys like Herro & LaVine, dudes who will never appear on an All-Defense team, are likely better defenders than Klay nowadays.
Now, maybe Klay is the answer to the DeAndre Ayton-to-Golden State trade, and maybe that works, but I’d assume Kerr is too stubborn to change the playcalling to fit a legitimate big man for more than 15-20 minutes.
However, you cannot tell me a Steph/Moody/Wiggins/Draymond/Ayton lineup wouldn’t perform better. With the defense & decline of Steph/Dray/CP3’s athleticism, it makes more and more sense to add an athletic big man to help where their size & athleticism fails. Steph & CP3 can’t keep up with Fox & Monk? Have a 7’1 Ayton meet them at the rim. Worried about Ayton’s viability as a rim protector? That’s why Draymond is still here. See Bjelicia, Pachulia, McGee, TJD, Bell, and Bogut to find out how Draymond’s positioning & IQ can allow a 6’11+ guy to make up for their original mistakes with a blocked shot or a contested shot. Draymond is the king of erasing defensive misques by other players and allowing them to reposition after their mistake.
Klay for Ayton is the key. If you thought CP3 would unlock Kuminga, look out with Steph/CP3/Ayton. It’d be a CP3/Booker/Ayton highlight reel, but with more experience, expertise, and IQ around Ayton to make it work.
Thats why this yr’s trade deadline will be key and ugly at the same time if Warriors are not able to contend.
“At this point”? That’s all he’s ever been! an overpaid sharpshooter