Klay Thompson has watched his Golden State Warriors pay Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins over the past few offseasons. Jordan Poole also got a hefty contract extension before ultimately getting dealt to the Washington Wizards. All four of those players signed deals worth at least $100 million. Thompson, to date, is not known to have been offered even half of that. Last offseason, reports indicated that the Warriors were prepared to pay Thompson $48 million over two years. He said no.
And apparently, the Warriors haven’t come closer since. According to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, there is no offer of any kind on the table for Thompson to remain with Golden State. There have been “no productive discussions” between the two sides and “talks are essentially frozen.” Further complicating matters, according to Slater, is the potential loss of Thompson’s best source of leverage. While there was reportedly mutual interest between Thompson and the Orlando Magic early in the process, there is currently no traction between them either.
The Warriors are reportedly still interested in bringing Thompson back. However, they are juggling several other priorities at the moment as well. Owner Joe Lacob has publicly talked about wanting to duck the luxury tax entirely after paying more than $600 million in taxes over the past four seasons. Golden State is also exploring opportunities for significant improvements through trade, with Chris Paul’s non-guaranteed $30 million contract serving as an asset they could use to get a high-level veteran. According to Slater, the Warriors have considered the possibility that Thompson finds a tepid free-agent market and eventually returns on a bargain.
That is a possibility, but free agency is unpredictable. It’s entirely possible that Orlando could circle back to Thompson if it misses out on another target. Inevitably, at least one of the cap space teams will, and there are a few, including Philadelphia and Oklahoma City, that want to win now. Thompson, for all of the concerns over his age, injuries and declining defense, still averaged nearly 18 points on just under 39% shooting from deep last season. He is a valuable player even if he’s not quite the star he once was.
The Warriors, for the time being, appear to be treating Thompson’s negotiations like they would any other player. That’s a dangerous game to play on several levels. Think back to the Lakers paying Kobe Bryant star money even after he tore his Achilles tendon. That helped the Lakers solidify their reputation among other players as a team that takes care of its stars. Years later, they landed LeBron James. Did that help? It’s hard to say. It certainly didn’t hurt. The reverse certainly can. Once you play hardball with someone like Thompson, you implicitly send a message to every other player in the league not named Stephen Curry: we’re willing to do this to a legend, so we’re willing to do it to you too.
Golden State might be willing to live with that. Maybe the savings are worth it. Maybe they make a splashy enough move to justify losing Thompson. But these negotiations are going to reverberate for years to come. Thompson is the caliber of player that should never leave the team that drafted him. It’s looking more and more likely that he’s going to in the near future.
