Getty Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors.
Klay Thompson didn’t get after his typical Game 6 heroics, as the Golden State Warriors were eliminated at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. Thompson finished the night with just 8 points on a brutal 3-of-18 from the field.
Golden State’s No. 11 will enter the final season of his five-year, $190 million contract next year. With the deal coming to a close, the Warriors will have the opportunity to negotiate an extension with Thompson, prior to the start of the 2023-24 season.
If the 33-year-old does ink another deal to stay in the Bay, he’s expected to take a paycut, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Anthony Slater.
“Thompson is extension eligible this summer,” the two wrote. “He’s making $43.2 million on the final year of his deal next season. If he’s to extend with the Warriors this summer, the expectation is he’d have to accept a paycut, as Andrew Wiggins did last summer.”
Charania and Slater did mention that the future of general manager Bob Myers, whose contract expires this summer, will have an impact on the potential pay cut.
“But nobody has the equity or established relationships with the players quite like Myers. If he’s gone, nobody can replicate the delicate but powerful chord he can strike with Curry, Green and Thompson, a vital quality when the dialogue turns to negotiations about contracts and roster choices and value for a lucrative franchise brand the players mostly built.”
Thompson spoke on the franchise’s future, following Friday’s elimination. Thompson told reporters that the Warriors still have “greatness” in their future.
“I fully believe that,” Thompson said of the Warriors still having a bright future. “It stings real bad. It’s going to sting all summer. It’s the first time in a long time that Dray [Draymond Green], Steph [Curry], and I were all healthy and not making the finals. So it’s rare to be off during this time of year. But I can tell you we gave it everything we had. It just stings, but I believe we have greatness in our future still.”
Klay never loses faith in the Dubs
Thompson has spent his entire 12-year NBA career with the Warriors, winning four championships along the way. It’s tough to imagine him wearing any other uniform in years to come.
Draymond Green Hopes to Remain With Warriors
While Thompson’s deal still has a year left, Green’s may not. The Dubs forward has the choice to decline his player option this summer and become a free agent.
Though the possibility of Green testing free agency is real, it doesn’t sound like he’s in any rush to pack his bags.
“We’ll see what happens as far as my contract goes,” Green said via NBC Sports Bay Area. “I have an opt out, everyone knows that I know that … I want to be a Warrior for the rest of my life. I want to ride with the same dudes.”
“I want to be a Warrior for the rest of my life.” – Draymond
Green’s comments coincide with The Athletic’s report of him and the Warriors being intent on “discussing and extension to their partnership.”
“Green has leverage: He is expected to have multiple playoff-contending teams in pursuit if he enters the open market,” the pair wrote. “But Green and the Warriors appear intent on discussing an extension to their partnership, if the price is right. He just finished his 11th season with the franchise.”
Draymond Green says Warriors ‘Maxed Out’ This Season
Green and Thompson seem to be in it for the long haul with Golden State. However, there is belief that this season’s squad “maxed out,” and changes will be needed in order to compete again.
Draymond discussed the notion with the media in Los Angeles, urging the team to “retool” this summer.
“I think this group definitely maxed out what we could do,” Green said via NBC Sports Bay Area. “You know, it wasn’t a championship team, we didn’t win it. It sucks, but that’s our reality. That doesn’t mean our core changes. That doesn’t mean our core can’t do it again. Like, they said we couldn’t do it again last year, we did it. They said we’d miss the playoffs this year, we didn’t. But guess what, we don’t do moral victories, so we lost. This was not a championship group as it stands. But we have champions and we’re made up of champions. When you are a champion and you have that mindset, you just go back to the drawing board, retool, and re-figure it out, and go do it again. That’s what’ll be our focus, but it wasn’t a championship group, as we can see as we sit here and the season’s over.”
“This was not a championship group.”
Draymond also believes the Warriors maxed out this season