The Golden State Warriors are hoping all of the rumors about Kevin Durant having one foot out the door turn out to be untrue, but they may need to shift some of their attention to another one of their star players if they want to avoid their roster being completely gutted this summer.
Klay Thompson is also set to become a free agent after the season, and speculation is growing that the 29-year-old wants nothing less than a max contract. According to a report from ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Thompson is not currently feeling the love from the Warriors.
I'm told Klay Thompson isn't happy and here's why. pic.twitter.com/l9lELKbKCo
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) May 7, 2019
“I’m told Klay Thompson isn’t happy. His number hasn’t been called nearly enough,” Smith said. “He’s tired of sitting around and getting, and this is a quote, ‘the crumbs left behind by other people.’”
Smith added that top executives around the NBA like Pat Riley and Jerry West have spoken with Golden State’s brass and urged them that their priority needs to be keeping Thompson and Stephen Curry together — especially if it appears likely that Durant is going to sign elsewhere.
Should Durant leave, that would obviously open up a max contract slot for the Warriors. The question then becomes whether they would want to use that for Thompson — whom they can re-sign anyway because of Bird rights — or pursue another star free agent. If Golden State is willing to offer Thompson a max contract regardless of how the Durant situation plays out, he probably isn’t going anywhere.
There have been rumblings that Thompson could have his eye on a specific team if the Warriors don’t show him they value him enough. That said, he averaged 21.5 points per game during the regular season and is averaging 16.5 in the playoffs. It’s not as if he is being ignored, but perhaps he wants to go somewhere where he isn’t the third or fourth option on offense.
