Extension talks between the Warriors and five-time All-Star wing Klay Thompson are at a standstill, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
Speaking on NBA Countdown on Sunday night (Twitter video link), Wojnarowski indicated that Thompson could very well wind up on the free agent market next summer.
“I’m told that there has been absolutely no progress on a Klay Thompson extension in Golden State, that they are still apart on years and money,” he said. “There’s a very real possibility Klay Thompson goes into free agency next summer without a deal.”
Thompson is entering the final season of his current five-year contract worth nearly $190MM. He’ll make $43,219,440 this season. His maximum salary in an extension projects to be upwards of $50MM, but it’s highly unlikely he’ll command the max as he enters his age-34 season. Thompson is eligible to sign an extension until June 30.
Golden State, of course, has salary concerns. While the team has regularly been willing to pay punitive luxury taxes, the creation of the second tax apron in the new CBA puts the Warriors’ front office in a more difficult spot.
Including Chris Paul‘s $30MM non-guaranteed salary, but without counting Thompson, Golden State is at the luxury tax and $20MM below the second apron next year, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets.
Major injuries sidelined Thompson for the better part of two-and-a-half seasons. He bounced back last season to start 69 regular-season games, in which he averaged 21.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He made 41.2% of his 3-point attempts, right in line with his 41.6% career average, while knocking down a career-high 301 shots from beyond the arc.
If he can deliver a similar season, Wojnarowski believes Thompson will be valued on the free agent market despite his age.
“You know in the marketplace teams value shooting, they value high-level wing defense,” he said. “For Golden State, this has a chance to become the first real test of keeping together that core of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.”
Former top Warriors executive Bob Myers, who also appeared on the show, believes Thompson would like to finish his career with Golden State.
“This is a delicate negotiation,” Myers said. “From what I know and see, he wants to stay and they want him to stay. Doesn’t mean it will happen. But it is a test … and this is probably the first real test.”
Come to Beam Team Klay
The teams with cap room are all trash. This is the problem for most FA that arent the top of the top super stars. All the competitive teams have already loaded up on salary and dumped most of theyre drafts.
FA can choose between taking more to play with dumpster teams or take less to stay with a contender. GSW wont sign and trade Klay since they wouldnt want salary back if he is leaving and would rather pay him than someone else.
Dude made 70M rehabbing for 2 years, if he can’t take a discounted deal in his mid 30s… gluck elsewhere.
Those two major injuries that Klay suffered not only took two years of his career and much of his athleticism but they also seem to have taken his perspective away. He has come back a lesser player but with a much more self centered and surly attitude. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is going to take him going on the free agent market for him to realize he is not valued in the league the way he thinks he should be.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. The attitude that likely helped him get through a very long and difficult rehab process is the same attitude now poisoning his mind and judgment.
Let’s also remember how many years now the main guys have told the younger players they need to sacrifice for the team to win. It’s not like golden state wants to sign him to the vet minimum. ONLY making $20-25 million a year is not an insult.
Agent won’t let him take a discount; viewed as bad precedent for future players…
Anything over $20m is a giant mistake. He is close to done.
I can see him getting a Wiggins contract but if he thinks he can get a huge contract on free agent market good luck with that. What ever team signs him away from GSW will be disappointed in his age injuries doesn’t make him a franchise player anymore.
This is why the new CBA sucks. The Warriors are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Klay Thompson is literally the 2nd best player in franchise history. He’s been through two major injuries and probably won’t ever walk without pain again. He’s given his all to this team. They should be able to give Thompson whatever it takes to keep him a Warrior for the rest of his career but the front office’s hands are tied if they want to keep a competitive team on the court. They can’t pay him a competitive salary. He either has to take a major pay cut or walk away.
no they absolutely should not give him whatever it takes, hes old and nowhere close to where he was
How is a free agent with bad wheels a rock and a hard place?
The only issue here is that while fans would love to see him stay, he wants millions of dollars more than he’s worth. Signing players who can be replaced with better players for less money is unfair to the fans an the rest of the team.
If Klay wants to stay bad enough, the team would love to resign him. If Klay wants to stay because he wants to make as much money as he can that is not the same as him wanting to stay to finish his career in one place. God bless him in his attempt to maximize earnings but the team and fans shouldn’t care about the financial desires of a man they’ve already paid hundred’s of millions.
It’s time for him to decide what he wants to do. If he’s looking for cash he should go to a team that needs him instead of one that would like to have him stay and finish his career for non basketball reasons.
“You know in the marketplace teams value shooting, they value high-level wing defense,” he said[…]
Yes, but Klay doesn’t give you high-level wing defense anymore. He has lost more than a step on that end since the injuries.
Beloved player in the Warriors organization and he should be able to retire there. But no team should offer more than three guaranteed years at max. 22 million or so a year.
His game kinda relies on being left open. He benefits from the sporadicness of Curry’s game. Not like he’s a bum, but as you said, he’s clearly lost a step, he isn’t beating anyone off the dribble or going to magically create space as he gets older.
Joe Harris money should be where hes at 18-19M.
He is still a quality defender, though. While his overall defensive numbers are just mid last season, his home-road splits in that regard are some of the biggest in the game. On the road, his defense was comparable to Bones Hyland. At home? Kawahi Leonard. Not even joking. That mirrored the team as a whole, but Klay’s splits were by far the most extreme.
Also, only 14% of his shots last season were wide open.
Klay is a system guy, no doubt, but any team that has a functional defense and can use off-ball shooting would get a lot out of him.
Quality? What does that mean?
Defending at home when you get more calls isn’t terribly impressive or helpful. It definitely isn’t the elite defense needed next to Curry if you want to win games when you don’t score 140 points.
It’s not about “calls”, emac. His contest numbers are also massively better.
What do you mean it isn’t about calls?
Defending better at home when the refs are giving you a more favorable whistle is definitely a thing.
If your point is that he has more contests and that indicates more effort, I have to ask if a lack of effort in road games is something you’re comfortable with.
Not more contests, better results from a nearly identical number of contests. Opponents shot way worse against Klay (and the Warriors in general) in Oakland than anywhere else. Which is the sign of a better-run defensive system. My point is that the Warriors as a *team* sucked at defense on the road, last season. Only Draymond Green wasn’t heavily affected by the way the defensive schemes were being run, and even he showed a larger drop in that regard than usual. Klay’s the biggest outlier in that regard, but he was far from the only one affected. I don’t think that the divide between his contest results leans him in one way or the other; I think he’s in the middle of the two extremes. Which lands him as a “still solid, but no longer elite” defender.
You can say that that’s insufficient next to Steph, and maybe so. But he’s nowhere near as bad as you’re implying.
The refs dont give GSW a favorable whistle anywhere. Steph is the most disrespected super star by the stripes of any player I can think of. Top 3 player gets no calls as they grab, claw, bump, hold, and trip him…
“Valued” doesn’t mean anything at all when we’re talking about multimillion dollar contracts.
Klay is done as a 30-40 million per year player, will not be part of the eventual rebuild and is unlikely to be part of a warriors championship team after his current contract expires.
Trade him if you can and otherwise let him go as a free agent. Getting him to take a low number for one last run is a set up for bad feelings and overpaying costs the team in the future.
So he got paid +$70 million while not playing while rehabbing.
Hasn’t been the same since. Lost a step in defending. Has to almost be opened to shoot. Needs the opposition to focus on Curry to shot. Getting paid +$40 million this year.
Take a dang discount.
Only way he’s gonna get paid that much again is if he signs with a horrible team. Then he’ll complain about being on a bad team
Thompson isn’t as good as he thinks he is.
Klay wouldn’t walk away from a 3 yr $60 mil contract so he could finish in a Warrior uniform. His life is so good now, given what he’s been through. He does seem to have something else at work now; a chip on his shoulder and a drive to re-prove himself. Also, he got $50 mil over the two years he was out. Where are people coming up with that $70 mil number.
What is 32.74M + 35.36M? Round it up 1.9M.
I said it before Klay extension was the next drama for GSW … Adding CP3 was defcon 1, No more Iggy to tone down Kuminga.
The Iggy mentor propoganda is tiresome BS. His two main pupils, Poole and Kuminga, were the Warriors two biggest malcontents last year and it extended into the playoffs when it was Steph who had to literally tell them to stay home before game 7 in Sacto if they couldn’t put their selfishness aside. Iggy is about young players “getting their money” above all else and that is mainly what Poole and Kuminga learned from him.
Klay will be lost without Steph; as the latter sucks up every second of defensive energy from opponents….
Klay going to get 4yr 150 from GSW after before getting offered 4 year 200 from the lakers!! Watch
The only way the Lakers would be able to offer Klay that ridiculous contract you hallucinated is if LeBron retires or opts out and leaves as a free agent (neither is likely). If the Lakers did have that kind of cap space they are not going to use it all on a one dimensional guy like Klay who they most recently saw absolutely stink it up in the playoffs against them. If Klay wants to go home to LA and play in front of daddy every game, he is going to have to take a big pay cut.