Getty Klay Thompson, Warriors star
It is the biggest issue facing the Warriors at this point in the offseason, and they’re working against a clock. The team wants to have star wing Klay Thompson signed to an extension before the start of training camp, on October 2, if only to avoid any potential drama lingering over the team as it attempts to return to contender’s status.
For new general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr., it is a tricky situation, and it is one that he spoke about—sort of—on the Dubs Talk podcast this week. Speaking, too, about a potential extension for Steve Kerr, Dunleavy said, “High priority level in terms of getting those guys done,” Dunleavy said. “We’ll see. Obviously, there’s always a financial component and (whether) guys want to be here and all that. But, you know, we greatly value them and hope we can work things out.”
He added, “I don’t give a whole lot in terms of what goes on between the walls of Chase Center,” he said. “But we’ve had good conversations. We’ll continue to do that. I’m optimistic that we can work things out with both of those guys.”
Mike Dunleavy Jr. opens up about potential contract extensions for Klay Thompson and Steve Kerr 👀
Dubs Talk: Warriors Offseason Review airs TONIGHT on NBC Sports Bay Area following Giants Postgame Live
Thompson Will Need to Take a Pay Cut
That could be easier said than done, though. Thompson is signed for next season, so there’s no danger of losing him, and there’s no team out there that would pay him more than the Dubs would. But what’s fair?
Thompson is a notably laid-back player, and he did express gratitude to the organization for signing him to a five-year, $190 million maximum extension in 2019, despite the fact that he had torn his ACL and was scheduled to miss a year.
He wound up missing another year, too, because of a torn Achilles tendon he suffered in the 2020 offseason. But Thompson made a dramatic 32-game return in 2021-22, helping propel the Warriors to an NBA championship, and was back at peak form last season, when he averaged 21.9 points on 41.2% 3-point shooting.
In May, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Thompson was expecting a max deal from the Warriors when the two sides talk extension. But in The Athletic, it was reported that, “If (Thompson is) to extend with the Warriors this summer, the expectation is he’d have to accept a paycut, as Andrew Wiggins did last summer.”
Wiggins worked out an extension with the Warriors that saw his annual pay go from $33.6 million last season to $24.3 million next season. Draymond Green did not sign an extension last summer, as he could have, saying he would not take a pay cut. But in the end, he did, dropping from $25.8 million last season to $22.3 million next season.
Market on Thompson Is Difficult to Set
Thompson and the Warriors could wind up following the Wiggins path, with the pay cut happening on an extension now, or they could follow the Green path, with the pay cut happening later. Either way, it’s a difficult needle to thread for the Warriors, who are significantly over the luxury tax (slated for a nearly $200 million tax payout) and are in a situation in which every buck matters.
Thompson is still among the best players in the NBA, but he is also 33, has had two major surgeries and is coming off a year in which he was overpaid at $43 million. Finding the right number for him would not be easy on the open market, and thus it won’t be easy for Dunleavy.
“You can make the case he is not that far off of a Michael Porter Jr. ($33 million next year) or a C.J. McCollum ($35 million next year) and those guys make a lot of money obviously,” one Western Conference executive told Heavy Sports. “He could be lumped into the contracts that guys like R.J. Barrett ($24 million) and Tyler Herro ($27 million) got last year but they’re younger. They’re also not as good. So it is tricky to say where his number will land. But they’re getting to where you start having these conversations seriously, so it is about to get real for them.”