Getty Warriors' Klay Thompson
Credit Klay Thompson’s camp. It was a wise maneuver, one day after he played off the bench for the first time since his rookie year—and scored 35 points in the bargain—to let it leak that Thompson would be open to testing the market in free agency, and that there could be interest from the likes of the Lakers and Heat. That’s a good way to keep up some pressure on the Warriors and make Thompson the big story of All-Star weekend.
But we are still four months from the start of free agency, and there’s much yet to be determined about where Thompson is in terms of his level of play. He is in the midst, no doubt, of the worst year of his career, though his numbers are not terrible: 17.3 points on 42.1% shooting and 37.3% 3-point shooting.
The problem is, Thompson has put up these numbers in the final year of his five-year, $190 million contract, meaning he is heading to free agency this summer on a very down note. The Athletic’s Shams Charania, though, reported this week that Thompson could seek to leave the Warriors and play elsewhere.
“I think the lack of an extension for Klay Thompson has been an issue and his free agency is looming..
He was amazing last night and he’s shown that he can still help a team”
That might be easier said than done.
“I think it could be a rude awakening,” one Western Conference executive told Heavy Sports. “I don’t think there is the market out there he might think there is.”
Warriors Klay Thompson Could Get a Draymond Green Contract
Now, this all could be a moot point if Thompson simply re-signs with the Warriors this offseason. That was the case last summer with big man Draymond Green, who was in free agency and was supposedly set to look for contracts elsewhere before quickly re-signing with the Warriors on a four-year, $100 million contract.
The Warriors could give Thompson something similar, unless he thinks there is more out there in free agency, that is. Thompson would be taking a chance there, though.
“If he stays with the Warriors, and they take care of him, they treat him fair, they give him a deal like Draymond’s or maybe a little less, it’s a lifetime service reward, you can make it make sense,” the exec said. “But on the open market, that would be difficult to justify.
“I would not want to go to my owner and say, ‘We want to pay this 34-year-old with so-so numbers $100 million.’ He’s coming off the bench, that is probably the best role for him going forward. I don’t know how you say we’re going to pay a bench guy that much money.”
‘It Only Takes 1 Team’
Thompson does not believe he is a bench guy, though his performance suggests otherwise. And the fact is, as another executive explained, he just needs to convince one team that he is the same Klay Thompson he has always been.
That might not be easy. That’s where the market on Thompson could be tricky.
“Look, it only takes one team to think put out a big offer and make the player happy,” one Eastern Conference GM told Heavy Sports. “That was like Kyle Lowry and the Heat—they gave him $85 million (over three years) and no one else was going to give him that. But it only takes one. That’s what Klay is looking for, just the one team that wants his experience and thinks he can still be the old Klay Thompson.
“But, really, he is still a good shooter but some of the other stuff is just more reputation than reality. He is not the great defensive player he was 10 years ago. He doesn’t get himself out of slumps quickly like he used to. Transition is a good example, that whole team was deadly in transition. But they’re older now and he just does not produce off the break like he did.”
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Warriors’ Klay Thompson Warned of ‘Rude Awakening’ in Free Agency